As the football fiesta known as the FIFA World Cup draws near, fans of the United States national team will no doubt be wondering what their team can achieve on home soil.
In three of the last four World Cup tournaments that the US has qualified for, they have successfully made it through the Group Stage, only to then fall at the next hurdle. Arguably, a repeat of this by experienced head coach Mauricio Pochettino would be considered a failure. This goes some way to illustrating the expectations that rest on the Argentine’s shoulders.
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As one of the three hosts of the 2026 competition, along with Mexico and Canada, the United States have not had to qualify for the finals next year and their form in friendlies has been more than just a little patchy.
Indeed, pressure is already growing on Pochettino, despite the former Tottenham and PSG manager having never taken charge of a competitive game. In recent months, they have started to turn the corner.
The US have won three of their last four games, beating the likes of Japan, Australia, and Paraguay and drawing with Ecuador. All these games have taken place in the United States in a bid to get Pochettino’s team ready for what lies ahead.
Among the key players for Pochettino is talented playmaker Giovanni Reyna, who scored and assisted in that win over Paraguay, leaving his coach glowing with praise for the efforts of the Borussia Monchengladbach star.
"[How he] reads the game and finds the free space in between the lines, I think that was a nightmare for Paraguay, and I think he did a very good job,"
"He scored, he did a very good job. So happy with him,"
"He showed why he started, and he has confirmed that he's a player that needs to improve, because he needs to play more in his club, but we can see today that he was great."
Pochettino then went on to assess how his side is slowly getting to where he wants them to be before the big kick-off next summer.
"I think we created chances, we were better. A team that I think is very competitive and difficult to beat,"
"But that is not enough. We are happy, [but] we need to keep going, because we need to improve, improve, improve, and arrive at the World Cup in our best, in our peak." Pochettino added.
Reyna is certainly one of the standout stars available to Pochettino. His current crop includes some hugely experienced performers like the aforementioned Pulisic, Reyna, Weston McKennie, and Matt Turner, as well as several promising starlets, leaving supporters of the US to have hopeful thoughts of just what they can achieve at the World Cup.
