USMNT have time to fix problems before World Cup, says Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino believes the United States have enough time to improve for the 2026 World Cup after their defeat to Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League.

Pochettino watched on as his team were beaten 2-1 by Canada at SoFi Stadium in the tournament’s third-place match on Sunday.

Indeed, the result saw Canada record their first win over the USMNT in a competitive match on American soil since a World Cup qualifying victory in St. Louis back in 1957.

Tani Oluwaseyi fired Jesse Marsch’s side ahead in the 27th minute, with Jonathan David’s scuffed effort finding its way into his path inside the box before finishing.

But their lead lasted just eight minutes as Patrick Agyemang restored parity with a strike from close range after good work from Timothy Weah and Diego Luna in the build-up.

Agyemang’s goal saw him become the fourth player to score in three of his first four career USMNT appearances, joining Eddie Johnson (all four), Bill Looby and Bert Patenaude.

But on the hour, David put Canada back in front with an excellent finish, cutting on to his left-foot inside the box and curling the ball beyond the grasp of Matt Turner.

The Lille forward now has five career goal contributions against the United States (two goals, three assists), more than any other player since his first match against the Stars and Stripes in October 2019.

1957 – Canada has recorded its first win over the USMNT in a competitive match on American soil since a World Cup Qualifying victory in St. Louis in 1957. Consolation. pic.twitter.com/vxYEv6Klfu

— OptaJack (@OptaJack) March 23, 2025

The defeat saw Pochettino suffer back-to-back defeats since taking over from Gregg Berhalter in September, with the Argentine losing three of his first eight games in charge.

Pochettino has been tasked with leading the USMNT at the 2026 World Cup, a tournament they are co-hosting alongside Canada and Mexico next summer.

The Stars and Stripes have never gone further than the quarter-finals at the World Cup, achieving the feat back in the 2002 edition in Korea and Japan.

They were beaten 3-1 by the Netherlands in the round of 16 in Qatar in their last appearance in the tournament, having failed to qualify in 2018.

Though disappointed by Sunday’s defeat, Pochettino is confident that the more he works with his players, that connection will help his team to improve.

“It’s better [to lose] now because I think we have time. Because we will be in this situation in one year’s time, for sure. I will tell you, ‘Houston, we have a problem. SOS,” Pochettino told reporters.

“Don’t be pessimistic, and don’t get bad feelings. We are all [disappointed] and the fans need to feel the disappointment that we didn’t win.

“But I’m not going to allow [us] to feel pessimistic because I think we have good players.

“We are going to find a way to perform and, for sure, we are going to compete in a different way.”

The United States will next be in action when they host Turkey and Switzerland in friendly matches in June.