Pochettino from Chelsea to USA
World Cup host apparently grabs star trainer
National coach at a home tournament: Mauricio Pochettino will apparently be able to experience this with the USA at the 2026 World Cup. The Argentine, who had to leave Chelsea FC, is reportedly set to take charge of a national team for the first time.
The Argentine Mauricio Pochettino is apparently supposed to lead co-host USA as national coach for the 2026 World Cup. According to consistent information from “The Athletic” and the sports broadcaster ESPN, the star coach and the US association, which is organizing the World Cup tournament in two years together with its neighbors Mexico and Canada, have agreed to work together. However, a corresponding contract should only be signed after Pochettino's contract with his last employer, FC Chelsea, has been terminated.
Pochettino would succeed Gregg Berhalter on the US team. The former German legionnaire (Energie Cottbus and 1860 Munich) had to vacate his post in the middle of last month after a total of around six years in office after the USA was eliminated in the preliminary round of the Copa América as the first host of the world's oldest national tournament. If he is finally signed, Pochettino would make his debut on the US bench on September 7th in Kansas in the friendly match between the future World Cup hosts and Canada.
Pochettino has been looking for a new job since parting ways with Chelsea at the end of last season. With the Blues, who were upgraded for 450 million euros, the 52-year-old only qualified for international business in his first year at London's Stamford Bridge with a final spurt of five wins in a row, but then had to leave. Negotiations about a severance payment were recently ongoing.
Before joining Chelsea, Pochettino worked at French giants Paris Saint-Germain. With the superstar trio Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, the ex-national player won his only titles as a coach within his two-year tenure with successes in the championship (2022), cup (2021) and Supercup (2020). The South American, who had repeatedly coached the German record champions Bayern Munich in the past, celebrated the greatest success of his coaching career, but with the English top team Tottenham Hotspur by reaching the final of the Champions League.
