It's probably easy to cringe when you hear Mauricio Pochettino say his new signings “have to believe” they can win the World Cup.
It's the kind of flashy catchphrase that ambitious CEOs often utter at their first press conference.
After months of international courtship, red wine and steaks and unprecedented financial support from his new employer, what else could he say? “We need to do well in the group stage and make it to the last 16”?
No, the Argentine is a winner and he talks like one, and he also knows he faces a dual task with the U.S. men's national team: not only transforming the quality of the team in a relatively short space of time, but also changing the team's mindset.
Asked about the limited time before the U.S. co-hosts the World Cup in 2026 — with just 10 international breaks and no tournament — he said: “Everybody thinks there’s no time to be at our best and prepare for the World Cup.
Pochettino spoke to the media in New York City on September 13. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
“I'm the opposite. I don't want to make excuses. I don't want to make excuses for the players to say, 'Yes, but we don't have time for new ideas, new philosophies.' No. We're talking about football and the players are very smart and talented and can play differently.”
“We have time and we have to really believe in big things, not just that we can win games but that we can win the World Cup. If we don't, it's going to be very difficult. We want players that show up on the first day of training camp and think big.”
“That's the only way I can create this philosophy, this idea and put my talents to work for the team. That's going to be our big challenge.”
The players he inherits are, by and large, an intelligent and pragmatic bunch. They're also used to being asked about what progress means for this group, a topic that came up frequently in interviews before and during this summer's Copa America.
Going deeper
This U.S. team is not a “golden generation,” and the data shows a lack of top talent.
“Getting out of the quarterfinals,” midfielder Tyler Adams said in June when asked what a positive result would look like. “We need to win in a pressure situation, in a knockout (match). That's going to be a big measure of our success.”
It may not have been what some fans wanted to hear, providing a brief respite from the battle cries that promised a trophy in a tournament widely billed as a World Cup dress rehearsal.
But if Adams was trying to set reasonable expectations, he was right: After all, a win in the knockout stages would have been real progress for a team that was thrashed 5-1 by eventual Copa America finalists Colombia in a June 8 friendly.
But the U.S. was eliminated in the group stage, falling victim to Tim Weah's individual error against Panama and then never having the strength to prevent it from becoming a fatal blow. With the pressure on them to beat Uruguay and advance, they just weren't strong enough.
Adams and the U.S. national team were eliminated in a loss to Uruguay on July 1. (Robin Alam/ISI Photo/Getty Images)
So it should come as no great surprise to Pochettino about the scale of the task ahead: It may sound good, but as he said, replicating the run of success of the U.S. Women's National Team seems too fanciful.
Deep down, he probably knows that too. That's why he's openly asked his players from the beginning to stop hiding. No excuses. No excuses like, “We don't have time.”
It's a gamble for the 52-year-old, because in reality, this story is probably true and he will ultimately be judged on his words as well as his results: The U.S. just lost to Canada and their only draw this week was with New Zealand, 78 places below them in the world rankings.
Confidence is low and Pochettino knows building some collective belief is a key part of getting this team out of the woods and ready to go in with a big-winning mindset in 2026.
It's unlikely that he actually believes the U.S. men's national team will win the World Cup at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in less than two years, but a team often accused of lacking spirit when it really matters needs to start thinking bigger, and that's the point.
Another part of his job will be to adapt quickly to the very different demands of managing international football, where opportunities to build a team that will charge through walls, as he did in his heyday at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur, are limited.
“Every time we have the opportunity to be with them we will give them very clinical input,” Pochettino added on Friday. “We need to be smart in how we approach training to get the best performance out of them.”
But while Pochettino understandably did not want to alienate his new signings by listing his squad's weaknesses in a public presentation, the other reality is that he has to be ruthless.
He needs to find a top-tier goalkeeper and quickly build a defense with the aggressiveness and intelligence shown by his South American team.
In a team with an abundance of clever defensive midfielders but lacking consistent creativity, midfield balance must also be improved – how long will he spend trying to solve the Gio Reyna mystery, for example?
And he will have to find an impressive solution to lead a team that made so many mistakes in front of goal in the Copa. Which of the promising young players who performed well at the Paris Olympics will be among the first to join his team?
And he'll have to do it all while producing enough results to get some skeptical U.S. fans along for the ride.
So don't roll your eyes when Pochettino says he believes the U.S. can win the World Cup. Instead, close your eyes and silently pray for whatever divine intervention he needs to achieve all of his goals within the next two years.
He will need all the help he can get.
(Top photo: Dustin Satloff/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
