Mauricio Pochettino is confident that the United States has sufficient time to make improvements for the 2026 World Cup following their loss to Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League. Pochettino observed as his team lost 2-1 to Canada at SoFi Stadium during the tournament’s third-place match on Sunday. For sure, the outcome marked Canada’s first competitive win over the USMNT on American soil since their World Cup qualifying victory in St. Louis in 1957.
Tani Oluwaseyi put Jesse Marsch’s team in the lead in the 27th minute, as Jonathan David’s mishit shot ended up in his path inside the box, allowing him to score. However, their lead only lasted eight minutes, as Patrick Agyemang equalized with a close-range shot following an impressive play from Timothy Weah and Diego Luna in the buildup. Agyemang’s goal made him the fourth player to score in three of his first four career USMNT appearances, joining Eddie Johnson (who scored in all four), Bill Looby, and Bert Patenaude.
However, an hour into the match, David regained the lead for Canada with a superb finish, cutting onto his left foot inside the box and curling the ball out of Matt Turner’s reach. The Lille forward now boasts five career goal contributions against the United States (two goals and three assists), which is more than any other player since his debut against the Stars and Stripes in October 2019.
The loss marked Pochettino’s second consecutive defeat since taking over from Gregg Berhalter in September, with the Argentine losing three of his first eight matches in charge. Pochettino has been given the responsibility of leading the USMNT at the 2026 World Cup, a tournament they will co-host with Canada and Mexico next summer.
The Stars and Stripes have never advanced beyond the quarter-finals in the World Cup, having reached that stage in the 2002 tournament held in Korea and Japan. They lost 3-1 to the Netherlands in the round of 16 in Qatar during their most recent tournament appearance, after not qualifying in 2018.
Even though he was disappointed by Sunday’s loss, Pochettino believes that the more he works with his players, the stronger their connection will become, ultimately helping the team to improve.
“It’s better to lose now because I believe we have time. We’ll definitely be in this situation in a year’s time. I’ll tell you, ‘Houston, we have a problem. SOS,” Pochettino mentioned to reporters. “Don’t be negative, and try not to feel too down. We’re all disappointed, and the fans should feel the disappointment of not winning.”
“But I’m not going to let us feel negative because I believe we have talented players. We’re going to figure out how to perform, and for sure, we’ll compete in a different manner.”
The United States will be back in action when they host Turkey and Switzerland for friendly matches in June.
