How coach Mauricio Pochettino made believers out of the U.S. World Cup team

U.S. men's soccer coach Mauricio Pochettino has his squad off to a stellar World Cup start. The team won Group D and has an advantageous path to go deep into the knockout rounds, starting Wednesday against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Santa Clara, Calif. Russell Lewis/NPR hide caption toggle caption Russell Lewis/NPR IRVINE, Calif. — In 2024, Mauricio Pochettino was looking for a job. With a resume like his, it was not going to be difficult: As a defender, Pochettino played in major professional soccer leagues in Spain and France, and represented the Argentinian national team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Then, as a coach, he had managed some of Europe's most recognizable clubs — Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea — and worked with stars like Harry Kane, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé. By contrast, the U.S. head coaching job was seen by many in the soccer world as a step down in prestige. For decades, the U.S. has been the supposed "sleeping giant" of international soccer that could never seem to wake up — a country with the population and resources to compete with the powerhouses of the sport in Europe and South America but lacking the culture to do so. The 2026 World Cup , hosted on home soil, represented a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take a big step toward changing that status quo. …