Pochettino's moment: can the USMNT deliver at a home World Cup?
· 5 min read
Every American soccer project of the last decade points at Friday night in Inglewood. When the USMNT kick off against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium, they do so with the deepest player pool in the program's history, a serial-winner head coach in Mauricio Pochettino, and a nation's attention they have never quite commanded before.
Christian Pulisic, now 27 and coming off his best seasons at AC Milan, captains the team in his prime. Around him: Weston McKennie's engine, Antonee Robinson's elite left-back play, and an emerging generation pushing the Qatar 2022 core for places.
Group D is winnable but treacherous. Paraguay are back at a World Cup for the first time since 2010 and defend like it's a religion. Australia have reached the knockouts in two of the last three tournaments. Türkiye, with Arda Güler and Kenan Yıldız, might have more pure talent than anyone in the group — many pundits' dark horse to win it outright.
The path matters too: top Group D and the bracket routes through Seattle and the West Coast, where the USMNT's matches are scheduled. Finish third and survival depends on the best-third-place lottery.
The bar is the quarter-finals — territory the US has reached only once, in 2002. At a home World Cup, with this squad, anything less will be judged a failure. That's not pressure; as Pochettino keeps telling his players, that's an opportunity.