Sources confirm that Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be appointed as the new coach of the United States national team

Former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be named coach of the U.S. men’s national team, sources familiar with the situation confirmed to Fox Sports on Thursday.

Multiple media outlets in England reported late Wednesday and early Thursday that the Argentine had agreed to take the U.S. job. No contract had been signed as of Thursday morning, and the U.S. Soccer Federation board has yet to sign off on a deal, one source said. But those are all formalities at this stage.

Barring any late setbacks, Pochettino will replace Gregg Berhalter as coach of the United States national team. Berhalter led the Americans to the second round of the 2022 World Cup but was fired on July 10, just over a week after the U.S. was eliminated in the group stage of the Copa America on home soil. Pochettino’s camp met for the first time with U.S. Soccer’s sporting director Matt Crocker in Europe the week of July 15, according to multiple sources.

Pochettino is considered one of the best coaches in the world game – and perhaps the best available on the open market after former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp rejected an initial offer from the US Soccer Federation. The signing of the 52-year-old is a major coup for the US Soccer Federation. The friendly Pochettino, who is fluent in English and Spanish, will immediately become the face of the men’s program upon his arrival.

With the 2026 World Cup set to be hosted in the United States (and Canada and Mexico), Crocker has set his sights on appointing an elite coach to lead the men’s team. The Welshman has already achieved that on the women’s side; last weekend, former Chelsea Women’s manager Emma Hayes won the country’s fifth Olympic gold medal in just her 10th cap in charge of the US women’s national team.

Crocker and Pochettino have a long history. They previously worked together at Southampton, where Crocker oversaw the club’s youth academy. The latter led lowly Southampton to eighth in the Premier League in his only season in 2023-24 before moving on to a successful five-year spell at Tottenham Hotspur. Pochettino led Spurs to their highest-ever points tally in the Premier League and a Champions League runners-up medal in 2019.

He then won the Coupe de France and Ligue 1 in two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain before returning to London with Chelsea last summer. Pochettino led the Blues from 12th to sixth in the Premier League before leaving, to the surprise of many, after the 2023-24 season.

Pochettino began his coaching career with Spanish club Espanyol in 2009. As a player, the former central defender earned 20 caps for Argentina and played at the 2002 World Cup. He has some links to American soccer, having coached current U.S. national team centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers and former World Cup players Brad Friedel and DeAndre Yedlin during his time at Tottenham.

Pochettino was one of several high-profile managers the FA held preliminary talks with either directly or through intermediaries. Others include Klopp, former England manager Gareth Southgate and Hoffenheim coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, the only American coach working in one of Europe’s top four leagues.

Pochettino has been one of the highest-paid coaches in club football at Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, and is certain to become the highest-paid national team coach in the world once he officially signs with the United States. Hayes is the highest-paid coach on the women’s side.

The next match for the U.S. national soccer team is a friendly against Canada in Kansas City on September 7.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports. A former writer for ESPN and Yahoo Sports, he has covered men’s and women’s national team matches at the FIFA World Cup on five continents. You can follow him on @By Doug McIntyre.

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