Pochettino handed ‘difficult’ mission by USA bosses targeting World Cup success

New USA men’s coach Mauricio Pochettino has been challenged to reach the World Cup quarter-finals on home soil in 2026.

The 52-year-old inherited a team short on confidence after a disastrous Copa America campaign ended in a group-stage exit.

But he has taken up a bold target to match the Stars and Stripes’ run to the last eight at the 2002 World Cup – still their best ever performance in the men’s tournament.

“The quarter-finals is the target. They were very clear,” he told British analyst Gary Neville on the It’s Called Soccer podcast.

“I’m very honest translating it to you. That was the idea, the challenge.

“They know that it’s going to be difficult. But I am a person – and we are people – that really believe that we have a talented group that can perform better.

“We accepted the the challenge.”

Pochettino has not spoken to fellow Argentine Lionel Messi since taking the role, with the World Cup winner currently in the process of leading his Inter Miami team to the playoffs/

But he did discuss his post with USWNT boss Emma Hayes and Inter Miami head coach Tata Martino, who was his captain at Newell’s Old Boys in their homeland.

“They had a similar feeling to what I had – that the potential is massive here,” he explained.

“Emma and Tata Martino said to me, ‘The potential is there if you are capable of providing them the possibility to compete better.’

“They’re great athletes, the discipline is there, but the mentality needs to be there to compete better.”

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Pochettino will take on Panama and Mexico in friendlies in October in his first matches in charge.

And the tactician says his first job will be to restore the players’ pride in pulling on the shirt after a 1-1 draw with New Zealand in their last game.

“The confidence is so low because the circumstance after the Copa America,” he added.

“The coach left and for the last two games, the circumstances were very difficult for the players and staff.

“The most important thing for me is to recover the confidence, the trust, the belief, and the excitement to be part of the national team.”

Elsewhere on his podcast, Neville said the MLS should undergo a massive restructure.

The Manchester United icon says promotion and relegation should be added to the league.

“From when I first went over there, it has got so much bigger,” Neville said.

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“I feel like what they’ve done with the league is quite clever because obviously the first time round the league had a problem with financial sustainability.

“But now, I do think that it will promote lots of good young American players.

“I don’t like the franchise element of it, we like promotion and relegation, obviously.

“Life’s about promotion and relegation, whether it’s promotion in your job, we’re used to it in all parts of our lives individually. What’s wrong with it in sport?”