Pochettino's Plan For World Cup Success Is Short, Simple, And To The Point

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Los Angeles Stadium (INGLEWOOD, Calif.) — Sitting at the dais the day before his first match in charge at a World Cup, United States national team boss Mauricio Pochettino went back to the beginning of his tenure at the helm of the tournament co-hosts.

Pochettino said back in September 2024 at his introductory press conference in a Manhattan skyscraper that he believed — and that his players would have to believe, too — that the Stars and Stripes could win the World Cup.

Just eight nations have in the almost 100-year history of the planet’s marquee spotting event, including Pochettino’s native Argentina. Yet his own lone experience as a player at soccer’s quadrennial party ended in heartbreak: a stunning group stage elimination in 2002 — the same year a plucky and nails-tough American squad shocked Planet Fútbol by reaching the quarterfinals in a memorable run that included a group-stage win over Portugal and a round-of-16 victory over Mexico.

According to the experts, neither of those things was supposed to occur. The lesson? At the World Cup, anything can happen.

So when Pochettino was asked ahead of the U.S.'s tournament opener on Friday against Paraguay what would constitute success for his team in the weeks to come, his answer wasn’t at all surprising.

United States vs Paraguay: Preview & Key Storylines | 2026 FIFA World Cup™

"For me, [being] successful is [to] win," Pochettino said. "It's win tomorrow, and win after [that.] If we don't arrive to the final, and we don't win the World Cup, [how can we] talk about ‘successful?’ I don't know."

Pochettino wouldn’t have taken the job if he didn’t believe he could do what most — including most Americans, probably — believe is impossible this summer. After walking away from Chelsea in 2024 as one of Europe’s best-regarded coaches, he wouldn’t have turned down more lucrative offers to take on the challenge of making a deep run with a country that he’s long admired from afar, one he frequently notes aspires to be the best in anything it tries to do.

Mauricio Pochettino's mantra? Just win, baby. (Photo by John Dorton/USSF/Getty Images)

At his core, "Poch" is a dreamer. He’s the reason behind the U.S. motto changing from "One Nation, One Team" during the 2022 World Cup cycle to the "Never Chase Reality." The 54-year-old doesn’t want to be realistic about the Americans' chances on home soil. Instead, he wants to bend reality to his will by convincing his players anything is possible. After all, the future isn't written yet.

He cried when he watched the Disney movie "Miracle" that chronicled the greatest upset in the history of American and perhaps global sports: when the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team — with a roster filled with amateur college kids — upset the grizzled and fully professional four-time defending gold medalists Soviet Union at that year’s Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York.

Pochettino saw a kindred spirit in Herb Brooks, the no-nonsense taskmaster of that group and borrowing his famous quote about assembling the "right" players as opposed to the "best."

No way is he about to back down on the eve of this World Cup.

"When we signed here, it was because we wanted to come here and to be involved in that unique event, but with the possibility to compete well and believing in winning."

It is now Christian Pulisic's time to shine at the World Cup. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Can the U.S., FIFA’s No. 17-ranked team, do it? Can they even come close? The latest odds stand at +6000, behind nations like Uruguay, Morocco, Japan and even Mexico, the USA’s historic soccer rival.

Not that the U.S. needs to hoist the trophy to capture the imagination of the American public. Just winning Friday’s opener here would be a start. Since returning to the global stage in 1990 following a 40-year absence, the U.S. has won its World Cup opener just twice: that match versus Portugal and in 2014, when a late John Brooks header beat Ghana. Overall, they’ve won just six times in 30 tries.

That’s why topping Paraguay is so important.

"It’s contagious," Pochettino said of what can happen if they do, with casual supporters suddenly jumping on the bandwagon with each successive triumph. "We need to play with passion and make the fans feel proud about what they are seeing on the field, I think to create that emotional relationship, and then you will do the rest to try to encourage the people to celebrate. We need the support of our fans."

He knows how best to get it.

"We need," he said, "to win."