Chelsea's head coach Mauricio Pochettino, left, and Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola gesture during the English FA Cup semi-final soccer match between Manchester City and Chelsea at Wembley stadium in London on April 20, 2024.Alastair Grant/The Associated Press
Former Tottenham and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was hired Tuesday to succeed Gregg Berhalter as U.S. men’s national team coach, 21 months before the Americans play host to the 2026 World Cup.
A 52-year-old Argentine, Pochettino became the 10th U.S. coach in 14 years and its first foreign-born leader since Jurgen Klinsmann from 2011-16. Pochettino has coached Espanyol in Spain (2009-12), Southampton (2013-14), Tottenham (2014-19) and Chelsea (2023-24) in England and Paris Saint-Germain in France (2021-22), leaving after winning a Ligue 1 title.
“It’s about the journey that this team and this country are on,” Pochettino said in a statement released by the USSF. “The energy, the passion, and the hunger to achieve something truly historic here – those are the things that inspired me.”
Pochettino had an initial meeting with USSF CEO JT Batson and sporting director Matt Crocker in Barcelona that stretched for five hours and had been in negotiations since mid-August. Crocker was Southampton’s academy director when Pochettino started at that club.
While the contract length wasn’t specified, the USSF said Pochettino will lead the team at the World Cup.
“Mauricio is a serial winner with a deep passion for player development and a proven ability to build cohesive and competitive teams,” Crocker said in a statement. “I am confident that he is the right choice to harness the immense potential within our talented squad.”