US takes key step forward under Mauricio Pochettino as World Cup nears

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga.— Right on time for the most important competition in its history, the U.S.

men’s national team feels like it knows exactly what it wants from coach Mauricio Pochettino, and how it can execute.Putting his stamp on this group has been a long process for the Argentine manager.Things were at a low with consecutive losses to Panama and Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League in March 2025, and have been on a slow build back upward ever since.Sunday’s win over Senegal, though, marked perhaps the most convincing soccer the USMNT has played under his tutelage.

Throughout the 3-2 win, the Americans looked confident in how they wanted to play, and able to keep the physical intensity to do it convincingly.“I don’t think we’re gonna change anymore,” Sergiño Dest said.“I think it’s too late to change any formations or whatever.

I think it is what it is.We gotta get the best out of it.”Though that is not, ultimately, Dest’s decision to make, going back to the same 3-4-2-1 base that worked well for the USMNT in the fall before it went a different direction and struggled in March marked one of the most notable developments of the weekend.The U.S.

has had spurts, and even full games, of looking quite good under Pochettino.But the nature of national team soccer, with the group convening sporadically and the roster varying in each window, meant there were always large caveats to those moments.There was very little of that Sunday.

Just a convincing 90 minutes, against a high-level opponent, in which the USMNT’s World Cup roster played the sort of game that Pochettino has long envisioned.Not perfect, but compared to their games in March, night and day.“Sometimes we’re defending in a four, building in a three, fluid movement, guys can go, if they’re playing fullback and end up inside, then someone needs to fill their position,” captain Tim Ream said.

“It’s so movement based to unbalance teams that it’s gonna look — depending ...