USMNT exits home World Cup. What comes next for Mauricio Pochettino and a young core?
· Yahoo Sports
The home World Cup is over for the United States, and the hard questions start before the disappointment can fade.
Belgium ran the U.S. off the field in Seattle on Monday, 4-1 in the round of 16. It was the same wall the Americans keep slamming into, only this time it came at home, in a tournament that was supposed to change soccer history. Instead, they fell flat.
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The biggest question is who leads this team out of the disappointment.
Mauricio Pochettino's future is unsettled. Multiple reports before the tournament said U.S. Soccer had offered Pochettino a contract extension through 2030, but both sides opted to wait until the run ended to decide.
That moment is here faster than they hoped.
Pochettino, 54, has said he wants to stay, and U.S. Soccer chief executive J.T. Batson has made no secret of wanting him back with the young core intact. But the former Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea manager keeps drawing club interest, including links to Real Madrid, and his national-team salary of about $6 million a year is a fraction of what clubs would pay. This is a real decision, not a formality, and it should come soon.
Whoever takes the job will not be busy right away. The U.S. currently has no matches announced before the September FIFA window. That gives the federation time to reset and to see which veterans move on. Tim Ream is 38 and near the end. Christian Pulisic, 27, along with younger players in Malik Tillman, Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi and Tim Weah, is a group that can carry it forward.
Hosting this World Cup came with an automatic bye. For 2030 in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, the Americans will have to qualify through CONCACAF, something they have not had to grind through since 2022. The 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles offer one more home stage before they have to focus on the next World Cup on the road.
The home tournament was meant to be the turning point for U.S. men's soccer. It turned into yet another disappointment. The USMNT finally cleared a hurdle it had not touched in more than 20 years by winning a knockout game, then fell flat. The coming four years will decide whether this was a foundational moment, or just another near miss.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USMNT exits home World Cup. What comes next for Mauricio Pochettino and a young core?