Mauricio Pochettino reveals ‘massive pressure’ from Donald Trump for USA to win home World Cup in 2026

Mauricio Pochettino is discovering his new world. Dreaming of the World Cup as a host nation. Joking about President Trump and the long wait for his green card.

Calling it soccer, and supposing how the USA could come to dominate the sport inside the next decade with its new national training centre in Atlanta about to open and Lionel Messi supercharging interest in the MLS.

Preparing for a CONCACAF Nations League semi final against Panama, in Los Angeles, on Thursday, and refusing to dwell on whether he might have been plotting England‘s qualifiers instead, if events had unfolded differently.

‘Of course, England is like my home now,’ is an instinctive reply when asked if it he would have considered the role now occupied by Thomas Tuchel, during an interview with English journalists in London. ‘It is my home but it’s true I am Argentine and that can be controversial.

‘I love England, and I know the relationship between English and Argentine citizens is very good but for sure the history is there and can be controversial. An Argentine defending the badge, the flag of England, I think is completely different to being here in the Premier League involved in a club. But it never happened so it’s not a situation we need to analyse.’

The idea of Pochettino for England always has traction because his friend and former Tottenham colleague John McDermott is the FA’s technical director and led the search for a successor to Gareth Southgate.

President Donald Trump holds up an executive order alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino

‘We keep a very good relationship, but I think the decision to start the search for a coach was after we signed,’ says Pochettino, spreading the wisdom of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy. ‘Daniel was always telling me football is about timing. When the USA arrived with the offer and we accepted, there wasn’t another offer.’

Pochettino agreed to become USA boss in August. At the time, Lee Carsley was in interim charge of England, and it would be two more months before Tuchel’s appointment was confirmed.

Having left Chelsea at the end of the season, he wanted to jump back quickly into work and liked the appeal of something very different.

‘We can be proud of the way we finished,’ says Pochettino, reflecting on that season at Stamford Bridge, winning the last five to finish sixth and qualify for Europe. ‘From where the team came the season before and we faced so many challenges.

‘In the beginning, suffering many problems. In the end, doing really well. The progression was massive. The way we feel now, it was very positive for us. We are grateful to Chelsea because it gave us an opportunity where we learned a lot.’

Even the great Pep Guardiola, he points out, will learn from Manchester City’s season of adversity. ‘I am 100 per cent convinced Guardiola today is a much, much better coach,’ says Pochettino. ‘It is difficult for him to be a better coach, but now he is a much better coach. He is suffering things that sometimes we suffered in the beginning. He is a real manager now, a real manager.’

At 53, the Argentine has the healthy, happy glow of a football manager freed from the relentless strain of the Premier League. Two hours of conversation are peppered with light-hearted tales and bursts of laughter.

But there are no illusions. He knows pressure is on the way, with 340 million expecting him to deliver success in what is billed the biggest year for the sport in the USA since they hosted the World Cup in 1994.

Pochettino agreed to become USA boss in August, shortly after his tenure with Chelsea came to an end

Pochettino’s friend and former Tottenham colleague John McDermott (right) is the FA’s technical director and led the search for a successor to Gareth Southgate, Thomas Tuchel

Pochettino is the expensive hire from football’s old world, there to deliver an American dream. Any hint of VIP status though is yet to appear.

‘They still didn’t give me the green card,’ he shrugs with mock horror. ‘We are waiting. The last time, in Los Angeles, we are waiting for one hour and a half in the queue. Good, eh? I am not complaining because if I complain they are going to kill me, but I cannot feel this status. I will feel it if one day they give me the green card.’

Maybe the green card, with its rights to permanent residency in the US and a slicker route through passport control, comes with results. ‘I was listening to a conversation between our President Donald Trump and [FIFA president] Gianni Infantino,’ says Pochettino in another of his welcome-to-my-new-world vignettes.

‘The president asked, “Can we win the World Cup?” And Gianni said “yes” but I was disappointed with this answer. He should say, “You need to ask your great coach, Pochettino, because for sure, he can give a better opinion”.’

That opinion? He thinks they have a chance to make a good impression. That he has a strong set of players, a blend of youth and experience, good attitude and a collective spirit nurtured by his predecessor Gregg Berhalter.

He also points out that only eight countries have ever won the World Cup in almost a century of trying.

‘They know it’s going to be a massive pressure,’ he says. ‘Our president likes to put pressure on. That is going to be good. And we are ready to deliver. We are a host and it’s a country where the mentality is all about winning.

‘In sport, everything the Americans are involved in, they want to win. That is the culture. It’s going to be a pressure but a welcome one. We will feel the adrenalin we need to feel.’

The 53-year-old knows the weight of expectation on his shoulders as he leads the US into the tournament

Those involved expect next year’s World Cup to be a catalyst for development of football in the States, just like 94.

‘It’s growing a lot, but America is massive,’ says Pochettino. ‘We still need more. We can dominate soccer, football, maybe in 10 or 15 years. Maybe less. Five, seven. The potential is massive.’

On the life of an international manager, Pochettino sought advice from Gerado Martino, an old teammate and legend of his first club, Newell’s Old Boys in Rosario, Argentina, who has managed Mexico and Paraguay besides his native Argentina and a host of clubs.

Time with the players on the training pitch will be limited. As will be the pool of talent. ‘You need to be flexible,’ said Pochettino, recalling a conversation with former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger at a charity game in Qatar.

‘We agreed that today it is easy to say, ‘oh, that is my philosophy’, said Pochettino. ‘Your philosophy? But before you decide this you need to see the characteristics of your players.

‘The characteristic as a coach is how you feel and how you translate your energy to the team. In the end, you have to have different plans depending on the circumstances of the team.’

His words will not be lost on supporters of Tottenham, where Pochettino spent more than five years, leading them to a Champions League final and finishing second in the Premier League before his sacking in 2019.

Plenty would welcome him back with open arms, and he is sure he will return to club football. ‘When, we don’t know,’ he says. ‘Six months, one year, 10 years, in football I sign a contract but after that we don’t know because it’s not sure you will spend the whole contract. Players know but coaches don’t.’

Pochettino enjoyed great success with Tottenham and led the side to their first Champions League final during his five-year spell

His feelings for Spurs remain strong with a hint of unfinished business.

‘In the bottom of my heart, I still feel the same,’ he says. ‘I would like one day to come back. Not because of my ego, it is because my feeling is I would like one day to win with Tottenham. We were so close, and it was so painful.

‘We were involved in improving the facilities, training ground, stadium. Not signing a player for 18 months because the focus was on other things. I was involved in that. I agreed with that. The problem was this type of journey creates a lot of friction for different reasons.

‘Also, I made mistakes. The good thing is when you are clever you learn from your mistakes. It’s like when a relationship finishes. I feel empty. I feel so disappointed. With everyone but also with myself because I didn’t manage well and when that happens it’s part of my responsibility.

‘Now Tottenham is a club with an expectation to win because if you see the facilities – training ground or stadium – now you can see it is about winning trophies.

‘That’s why I would like one day to come back with all the possibilities again to build something special. If that doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. But that is my feeling, and it didn’t change. It is always going to be a special club for me.’

First though, the American dream.