Why Donald Trump should love what’s just happened at Coventry City | OneFootball

The US president will have high hopes for the USMNT at the World Cup, especially after Haji Wright's hat trick

A lot of football fans had their eyes on the CBS Arena on Monday night to watch the clash between the top two in the Championship, and American fans would have particularly enjoyed Haji Wright scoring his second Coventry City hat trick.

The World Cup takes place this summer in the United States, and, unsurprisingly, US President Donald Trump is rather buoyant about the event, helped by head coach Mauricio Pochettino stating that he feels that the Stars and Stripes can go all the way and win the tournament.

So, with less than four months remaining until the tournament, American citizens and the president himself will likely be checking in on some of their prospective stars who will be playing a big part in helping make true on Pochettino's claims.

One of whom is Wright, who has 20 USMNT national team caps to his name, and will be battling with the likes of Derby County's Patrick Agyemang and wantaway Norwich City man Josh Sargent for a place in the squad to back up former Arsenal academy prospect Folarin Balogun, it seems.

And, after Monday night's performance against Middlesbrough, you have to feel that he has the upper hand.

Haji Wright's hat trick against Middlesbrough will boost his World Cup chances

Wright began the campaign like a house on fire and was one of the main catalysts for Coventry's early dominance in the Championship, netting eight times in the opening nine games.

Just five goals have followed that run, which ended in early October, though, and that may come across as bad form. However, the 27-year-old is starting to find his shooting boots once more, not only when the Sky Blues need him, but also when the USMNT may need him.

Back-to-back goals in 2-1 wins over Leicester City and Millwall in January came before his hat trick in the most important game of the season against Middlesbrough, taking his season tally to 13, having now scored six in his last six.

Wright has been a rather streaky attacker since he made the move to the CBS Arena in 2023 from Turkish side Antalyaspor, known for going on barren runs, but also runs where it looks like he can't stop scoring, and this will hopefully be the start of a run akin to the latter that will run into the World Cup.

Not only will that likely help Coventry maintain their place atop the Championship and secure a Premier League return for the first time since the 2000/01 season, but it would also put him right in the eyeline of Mauricio Pochettino for a chance to represent his country at a home World Cup.

Going into this summer's World Cup tournament, Mauricio Pochettino has a massive decision to make regarding which strikers he is going to include in his squad and who will have to miss out.

Monaco's Balogun and PSV's Ricardo Pepi look to be shoo-ins, given their goalscoring numbers in the French and Dutch top flights, respectively, but who that third choice striker will be is still a question yet to be answered.

Patrick Agyemang has had an admirable first season in the Championship for Derby, and before Wright's hat trick, both men were on 10 league goals for the season, after the 25-year-old had gone on a little run of his own of four goals in his last six.

Some critics felt that the Rams' frontman was in the driver's seat, but the hat-trick from Wright has swung the pendulum back in his favour, and it may be a straight shoot-out between the two for that final striker position.

Nevertheless, the fact that there's a debate on who should be left out of the USMNT squad in an attacking sense for a World Cup is almost unheard of.

The number of quality options that are available at Pochettino's disposal is refreshing to see from an American perspective, and President Donald Trump will be hoping that, if it is Wright who is chosen, the 27-year-old can replicate his goalscoring ventures from Monday night on the world's biggest stage.