Mauricio Pochettino handed ‘layup’ as USMNT discover World Cup fate but only one outcome provides July 4 epic

Mauricio Pochettino and the USMNT now know how their World Cup campaign is going to look.

Friday’s draw at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center has given the US high hopes of starting strongly in the biggest ever playing of the tournament that will feature 48 teams for the first time.

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Pochettino and his team – led by AC Milan star Christian Pulisic – will begin their attempt to become the first US men’s team to go beyond the quarterfinal since 1930 in Inglewood, California.

While the women’s team have been world champions no less than four times, the men have been eliminated at the group stage four times, suffered Round of 16 defeat on four occasions.

Their best performance came in the first ever World Cup when they finished third in 1930, while their best showing of modern times was a run to the quarterfinals in 2022.

SoFi Stadium will host their Group D opener against Paraguay on June 12, and they stay on the West Coast, moving north to face Australia at Seattle’s Lumen Field on June 19.

They round out the group stage back at SoFi Stadium on June 25 against whichever European team emerges from the Path C playoff, which features Turkey, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo.

Australia and Paraguay have both been beaten in recent friendlies by the US, which prompted former national team striker Mike Grella to claim the group stage fixtures were ideal for Pochettino’s squad.

“Take nothing away from the Socceroos they’ve always been competitive – but they stumbled a little during qualifying and weren’t that impressive,” he said.

“This is an amazing first team to have for the US.”

Former US captain Alexi Lalas was a little more diplomatic

“Thank you to the soccer gods,” Lalas told the FOX World Cup show.

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“My message to the players is: We need to compete better than Paraguay. That is going to be difficult. Australia is going to be difficult. The team that is going to join us is going to be difficult,” USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino said on Fox Sports.

“We need to build our journey step by step, and we need to prepare, like, when we start to play the 12th of June, it’s going to be like it’s the last game, the last opportunity. It’s like the final of the World Cup. That needs to be our mindset.” Mauricio PochettinoFox Sports

“I don’t want to say it’s an easy group, but we also have to be realistic with what we got here.

“It’s 2025, it’s going to be 2026, and a group like that, you say, ‘Thank you very much.’ Put it in your pocket. Go get your points and get out of your group.”

Hopes will be high that the US can win the group, and give themselves a more favourable path to through the knockout stage, but hopes of a Fourth of July celebration game will only come to pass if it’s a difficult group stage.

Only a best third place finish could result in a game on July 4, a game that would take place in Philadelphia on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

While an epic celebration would mark the huge celebration played across the country, the focus for Pulisic, Pochettino and the team is on the job at hand.

“I think we can go into it with a good feeling,” Pulisic said in a media call after the draw.

Going all the way?

USMNT possible path to World Cup final - if Group D winners

Round of 32 – Senegal, Santa Clara

Round of 16 – Belgium, Seattle

Quarterfinal – Spain, Inglewood

Semifinal – France, Arlington

Final – Argentina, New Jersey

“Obviously, we’ve played against these teams recently, which is not always the case. So, we know more or less, what they’re going to look like, and we know they’re tough opponents as well. 

“We’re not taking anyone lightly. They’re all going to be tough games, but I think it’s great that we have that experience, it’s cool that those friendlies and some of the other ones were able to prepare us for some of the teams we’re actually going to play.”

President Trump calls for NFL rebrand

The great and the good from the sporting and celebrity worlds gathered at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC as the 16 groups for next summer’s World Cup were drawn.

Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky and Shaquille O’Neal were on stage to help facilitate the draw, which finally got going just after 1.30pm ET following more than an hour of introductory speeches.

Earlier in the evening, President Trump arrived on the red carpet, accompanied by Fifa President Gianni Infantino and was questioned by talkSPORT’s Ben Jacobs who asked about the USMNT hopes of winning the tournament.

“Well I think so,” the President responded.

“I think a lot of people feel they have a little bit of a shot…it’s pretty stiff competition but I would say they would have a chance.”

The 47th President of the United States was then on stage as the draw got underway and used his platform at draw to aim a cheeky dig at the NFL, claiming it should be ‘renamed’.

Moments after being awarded the first ever Fifa Peace Prize awarded by soccer’s governing, President Trump was on stage with Infantino, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Primer Minister Justin Carney.

As the trio discussed plans for the tournament, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July 2026, the president waded into the soccer versus football debate.

“We have to find another name for the NFL,” he said.

“This is football, we call it soccer here in the USA but it is really football.

“It doesn’t make any sense that we call it soccer.”

The 32-team NFL, whose teams will provide 11 of the 16 stadiums that the tournament will be played in, including Dallas Cowboys AT&T Stadium which will need to be renamed in accordance with FIFA rules

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