USMNT already in World Cup mode: "We need to perform" | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

It's been two months since the US men's national team's last match, their stunning 5-1 rout of Uruguay in November, and there's still almost two months to go before their next one, a clash with European heavyweights Belgium at Atlanta United’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium in March.

Best believe Mauricio Pochettino and his staff are feeling the midwinter blues.

“Being very honest, it’s tough. It’s really tough to spend all this time watching football, assessing players, having meetings, doing different things, but not coaching,” the USMNT boss admitted in a media availability on Thursday.

“That is the most tough situation that we are living, because we love to coach, we love to be on the grass, and that is very, very difficult time.”

Crucial stretch run

The Yanks’ 2026 FIFA World Cup opener vs. Paraguay on June 12 draws ever closer, though, fueling a sense of urgency to hit the ground running in the March camp, one of only two gatherings left before this summer’s massive tournament begins. 

The final sprint is finally here, and ‘Poch’ wants his squad to approach their next four games – friendlies against high-caliber opponents Belgium, Portugal, Senegal and Germany – as a de facto early kickoff to the big dance.

“The idea is that the World Cup will start in March when we will be all together,” said Pochettino. “Because it's time to show, like we were showing in the last camps, November or October, our identity, our way to play in the way that we want to perform in the World Cup.

“We need to perform,” he added. “We need to show our quality.”

That’s why ‘Poch’ and his colleagues are racking up flight miles to visit their players in person, not just catching the matches of their European-based contingent across the Atlantic, but also stopping through a range of MLS preseason camps, including – somewhat surprisingly – the Florida sessions of Sporting Kansas City and Chicago Fire FC, who’ve only had one recent USMNT call-up between them in Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady.

Fresh legs

Traditionally, conventional wisdom considers MLS-based USMNTers at a disadvantage in early spring, when their season has just begun and European campaigns are hitting their run-in. The current boss views it in more nuanced terms, contending his MLSers will be fresher when they report to Atlanta.

“They are going to be in a very good level of energy,” said Pochettino, speaking to reporters via videoconference from Miami. “Maybe with lack of maybe games, but I think you compensate that with energy, because they came from a period that they rest, they recover, and now they are charging the batteries to be full, to start to compete in the middle of February. And that is very good, because I think in March, they are going to be with all their power.

“They are going to be with all the energy, with the motivation to be part of the roster, and then it's up to us to pick, to make the best decision to add players that deserve to be, like the players that are in Europe playing. That mix needs to be a very clever way to build the roster, because I think that is the most important thing, the balance that we can provide to the squad.”

Taking on new challenges

Poch also declared his approval of US players taking the measured gamble of moving to new clubs in his winter window, revealing that Orlando City product Alex Freeman contacted him to seek his perspective on his multi-million-dollar move to LaLiga side Villarreal CF this week.

“When you change, it's because you are convinced that you're going to be better, in a better place,” he explained. “Alex, yes, he called me and asked about the situation, what was my point of view about the change, if that possibility happen. I said you need to be very natural and take what you believe is the best option for you, for your family, and, of course, for your people that advise you.

“It's important that the player feels happy, feels comfortable, and not to want to be in a comfortable zone. This type of feeling that happens is because they want to improve, they want to grow. And I think it's an amazing challenge that we need to support and help them to adapt in the best possible way.”

Last call looms

After calling up dozens of players from all over the world to test and evaluate his talent pool since taking the helm in September 2024, Pochettino considers the groundwork laid, his foundations stable and secure.

Now the final auditions loom, with these four matches and players’ club performances determining who’ll make the final squad, and which gain an inside track on starting roles.

“You see that when players arrive, they come from different environments, different backgrounds, different ideas of soccer, but the most important is, when they arrive with us, is to have everything, every single thing very clear in the way that you need to behave, in the values that we want to share,” he said. 

“Our goal was to build this energy that I’m offering the team and the federation, to provide the team the best platform for them to feel really comfortable and wanting to play for each other and want to fight for each other … It's the way that we build our philosophy, our culture here on the team, after one year and a half.”