{"id":26579,"date":"2026-08-03T22:54:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T17:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26579"},"modified":"2026-08-03T22:54:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T17:54:24","slug":"pochettino-stays-as-us-coach-agrees-to-contract-extension-through-2030-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26579","title":{"rendered":"Pochettino stays as US coach, agrees to contract extension through 2030 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">Mauricio Pochettino is staying with the U.S. soccer team, agreeing Monday to a four-year contract to coach the Americans through the 2030 World Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The 54-year-old Pochettino, who took over the national team in October 2024, led the U.S. to the round of 16 at this year&#8217;s World Cup, where the tournament co-hosts were eliminated in a <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/world-cup-united-states-belgium-score-0325e8102be7a88e852079deffd70ca0\">4-1 loss to Belgium<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Still, he helped the seeded U.S. team to a pair of firsts in the expanded 48-nation tournament, clinching advancement from the group stage with a game to spare and winning three games in a single World Cup. The team captivated American fans with excited audiences in stadiums and record television viewers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThe magic thing that happened during the World Cup, the connection with the people, of course with the whole organization and everything was a key point,\u201d Pochettino said during a Zoom news conference from his home in Barcelona, Spain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Since reaching the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup, the U.S. has lost four round-of-16 games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cWhat we learn(ed) is that we can compete, that we have the quality and we have the talent,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cWe were so close. That gap with the best teams in the world is not too big.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Pochettino said there is potential to make soccer in the U.S. \u201cgrow and grow and grow and be one of the important sport(s) in America, like it is in the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cWe have players and organization that can compete with the best organization in the world in that sport,\u201d he said. \u201cWe learned that the fans are amazing and when they were so excited to discover a sport that made our fans become crazy, no? The connection was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Pochettino views the next cycle as a new start for a program lacking quality depth at goalkeeper and central defender.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cIt is going to be important to provide the young kids that we really believe (in) that they have the potential to arrive in 2030, in four years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Before taking the U.S. job, Pochettino coached Espanyol (2009-12), Southampton (2013-14), Tottenham (2014-19), Paris Saint-Germain (2021-22) and Chelsea (2023-24).<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">When <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/pochettino-mauricio-us-c875a8d529a4a48550002e0ebd5a0293\">Pochettino replaced Gregg Berhalter two years ago<\/a>, he signed an initial contract through the 2026 World Cup. Pochettino said ahead of the tournament that he had discussed a possible new deal with the USSF. He also said in May that <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/pochettino-ac-milan-0ac502afd6a6769b8a6c1fa6ac0d05f8\">his agent had spoken with AC Milan<\/a>, a club that then <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/amorim-milan-manchester-united-pulisic-4abfe9fdc89b8305af2bf895f13d272d\">hired R\u00faben Amorim<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Pochettino, who has homes in Spain and London, said he may move to the U.S. He intends to stay with the American team until 2030 but left himself an out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cFour years time is a really long period. You never know what can happen in soccer,\u201d he said. \u201cToday people really love you. In eight weeks time, maybe that change(s), that feeling.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">He has led the U.S. to 17 wins (including a penalty-kick victory), 13 losses and one draw. Twenty-three of 62 players to appear under Pochettino have accounted for the team\u2019s 57 goals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cWe know we have a lot of work to do to achieve our clear ambitions, including competing to win Men\u2019s World Cups and having soccer become the most played sport in every community,\u201d USSF CEO JT Batson said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is again the lead philanthropic funder supporting Pochettino\u2019s contract with additional support by Scott Goodwin, Adam Freede and commercial partners. <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/pochettino-salary-us-team-0588d1476b480c6d97a6ccf77a257575\">Pochettino earned just over $5 million<\/a> in his first seven months as coach, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation tax return.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">U.S. coaches have not been successful when they remained for a second World Cup cycle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">After leading the Americans to the 2002 quarterfinals, Bruce Arena was unable to get his team past the group stage in 2006.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Bob Bradley helped the U.S. reach the round of 16 in 2010, then was <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/83d6d54894df484885066ffeb455c8ac\">fired a year later<\/a> after the team lost the CONCACAF Gold Cup final.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/2eab71823a234f51a77439cae14d0cc3\">Jurgen Klinsmann took over<\/a> and in December 2013 was given an <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/405b9d3d4e7c46caa4ac0381e97bc809\"> extension through the 2018 World Cup<\/a>. The Americans reached the round of 16 in 2014 but <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/klinsmann-fired-as-us-soccer-coach-arena-could-return-0ef46bd294b1423e97468fc0ed692871\">Klinsmann was fired in late 2016<\/a> after the U.S. lost its first two games in the final round of qualifying. Arena returned but the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/general-news-d2542e22cde04b66b19976331ee71d4d\">U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/berhalter-hired-as-us-soccer-coach-after-world-cup-failure-6945c71c515e4053ae81669e942c8dac\">Berhalter was hired in late 2018<\/a> and led the Americans to the round of 16 in 2022. Given a <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/gregg-berhalter-us-soccer-coach-a09b1078285e4f206e44ec8a82017396\">new contract in 2023<\/a>, he was <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/berhalter-us-coach-0acbc8fe05053f8dd00149490f8cda70\">fired a year later<\/a> after the U.S. failed to advance past the group stage at Copa America.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cWe are going to demand more from them,&#8221; he said of the players. \u201cWe are not going to be in some situation(s) not flexible like we were because before it was (for) the benefit of players, benefit of structures that were already built. But now it\u2019s about to start the house from zero.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">AP soccer: <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mauricio Pochettino is staying with the U.S. soccer team, agreeing Monday to a four-year contract to coach the Americans through the 2030 World Cup. The 54-year-old Pochettino, who took over the national team in October 2024, led the U.S. to the round of 16 at this year&#8217;s World Cup, where the tournament co-hosts were eliminated&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/f616c408-1dbe-4593-9356-ccaf590a2fa5\/Mauricio-Pochettino-gty-gmh-260803_1785774099639_hpMain_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}