Mauricio Pochettino only has one measure of success for USMNT at World Cup

INGLEWOOD, Calif.— The giant transparent panels that make up the ceiling of SoFi Stadium loomed Thursday afternoon as planes leaving LAX flew overhead.

Inside the bowels of the stadium, reporters gathered into a press conference room 24 hours ahead of the United States men’s national team’s opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Playing on home soil for the first time in 32 years, the pressure and expectations on the USMNT are enough to shatter that glass ceiling overhead.But inside the stadium, head coach Mauricio Pochettino delivered a message that was equal parts ambition, challenge and a warning. The United States is not hosting the 2026 World Cup to get out of their group. Not to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. Not even to reach the Final. Pochettino says the definition of success for this team is to win the whole damn thing. “Success is to win.

To win tomorrow.And win after tomorrow.

And win again,” Pochettino said.“If we don’t arrive to the Final and we don’t win the World Cup, then in my mind, it is not a success.” For a country whose greatest modern World Cup achievement remains a quarterfinal appearance, the Americans lifting the trophy sounds absurd.

Yet, that has been the message since the day he accepted the job 20 months ago. This is not 1994, when a group of former college soccer players and semiprofessionals stepped onto the pitch to show the country what “the beautiful game” is all about. This team is composed of players who play in Europe in some of the most competitive leagues and for the best club teams in the world.Every match will be played in front of thousands of home crowds.

Every result will be dissected from Los Angeles to New York.Every mistake will be magnified.

The weight of an entire country sits on the shoulders of 26 men expected to deliver the deepest World Cup run in U.S.history. Pochettino believes the way to manage that pressure is by not avoiding it, but becoming i...