Getty ImagesAhead of the Pochettino's debut, GOAL looks back at how previous USMNT coaches made their first impressions
Mauricio Pochettino will be on the sideline Saturday for his first match in charge of the U.S. men's national team. It feels like a long-time coming. Nearly two months after news of his potential arrival first broke on Aug. 15 – and a month out from his official hiring on Sept. 10 – Pochettino's USMNT debut has finally arrived. This is the start.
It's a complicated path forward. With the 2026 World Cup being hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, Pochettino won't have to navigate World Cup qualifiers. But he will have a task much tougher: preparing this team to host on home soil. That process begins on at 9 p.m. ET Saturday against Panama in Austin, Texas, and continues next Tuesday when the USMNT face Mexico in Guadalajara.
Pochettino, of course, will be measured by how he does in 2026, not 2024. All coaches, ultimately, are judged by tournaments, and Pochettino will be no different. But it all has to start somewhere.
With that in mind, it's worth looking back at Pochettino's predecessors in the U.S coaching role. How did they fare in their opening camps and, was that any sort of indication of what was to come?
GOAL looks back at the debuts of previous modern era USMNT coaches, as they started on their paths to World Cups.
