Mauricio Pochettino’s $50m challenge to bring ‘fight’ to USMNT that’s been soft in past World Cups

A return to the Premier League or European football can wait for Mauricio Pochettino.

He has a more important challenge this summer, and another sports-obsessed country will be watching everything that Poch says and does.

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USA needs passion from its new coach

What begins Friday vs Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium will finish at some point for Poch and the United States Men’s National Team in the biggest World Cup in history.

Where the USA ends up could define Pochettino’s coaching legacy and directly impact a potential return to the United Kingdom or Europe, which is made easier with an expiring USMNT contract.

Tab Ramos recorded 81 caps and eight goals while representing the United States in three World Cups (1990, ’94, ’98).

The former USMNT assistant said that this year’s team should again return to the Round of 16.

It’s where Pochettino goes from there — $50 million is waiting for the winning squad in a tournament that could create $10 billion in revenue — that will prove his name to a growing legion of American soccer fans.

“From then on is where we see really the the influence that Mauricio Pochettino has had in our program,” Ramos, a former USMNT midfielder, exclusively told talkSPORT.

“Can we make it to not only the quarterfinal, but can we potentially go to a semifinal, one that we haven’t been to since 1930?

“Not that that’s the expectation. But I think when you hire a coach of this magnitude, I think you want to go a little bit further than you’ve gone before. And I think a lot of people are thinking along the lines that I’m thinking right now.” 

Poch must inspire USMNT on the pitch

USMNT in 2026 will inspire or frustrate with Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham) and Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach) adds.

What could become the most talented team in US soccer history will be guided by a 54-year-old head coach from Argentina who spent his first year at a new job being criticized for an underperforming squad.

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“The biggest challenge has been that it took Pochettino so long to figure out what it what it took for this team to tick,” Ramos said.

“He was hired about a year and a half ago, and just in this last FIFA window we were able to see what this team is capable of. And so it took a long time to figure that out. 

“Now, the good part is we have good players. And the best part is we have a group in which we should be favored to come in first place.”

Fixing USMNT’s culture and lifting young talent to a higher level on a global stage became pivotal the moment that Gregg Berhalter was fired as USA’s head coach in July 2024.

Young USA talent needed more ‘fight’

Beneath the constant chatter about the largest sports tournament in world history is the fact that human relationships and player sacrifice will help determine Poch’s success in guiding Pulisic, McKennie and Richards in the 2026 World Cup.

“With Poch coming in, he kind of instilled this fight that we needed,” Richards, a Crystal Palace and USMNT defender, exclusively told talkSPORT.

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“People think of CONCACAF as a scrappy league, a scrappy division of the world. But we’ve really embraced it over the last year or so with him coming in. When you’re able to do that, your quality will eventually come out on the ball.

“But I think it’s making sure that no team goes up there and outplays you or at least outworks you. That’s something you can always control.”

Ramos named McKennie among the most important names on Poch’s current roster for true summer success.

“I wanna say likely their (Juventus) overall best player this year, but it’s because he’s been a utility player,” Ramos said. “He’s been able to play in a number of different positions. 

“We need him to be in one position for our team and that’s that 8 that gets into the box and plays box to box, winning balls and actually getting goals for the team. 

“If he has a good World Cup, we have a real good shot at doing really well.”

The first real leap forward for Pochettino’s USMNT crew was the 2025 Gold Cup, which created personal bonds that will be strengthened during training for the Atlanta friendlies.

‘Best candidate’ now faces uncertain future

“We were in the tournament for 40-plus days,” Richards said.

“We created huge, huge relationships during that time and big steps.”

Two months after Berhalter was fired by USMNT, the main host country for the 2026 World Cup became officially linked with a manager who left Chelsea after only one season.

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There will be a platform in America this summer for generational greatness.

There is a path for Pochettino to be warmly remembered for decades in the USA, no matter where he goes once a massive tournament is over.

All Poch has to do is win a few huge World Cup matches coaching USMNT.

“He was likely the best candidate in the world available at the time of any highest level possible,” Ramos said.  

“The US Soccer Federation did a great job of recruiting the best possible candidate that they could find anywhere in the world at that time, right? Of course someone can debate that, but I don’t think it’s crazy for me to say that. 

“And because of that, this is what we expect. So the expectation is going to be, well, if we always make it to the round of 16, we have to expect a little bit more, right? And so this is where the challenge comes.” 

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All 104 games at the 2026 World Cup this summer will be live on talkSPORT, talkSPORT 2 and the talkSPORT app.