Pochettino reflects on his USMNT legacy: Australia win was a moment of cultural significance

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Mauricio Pochettino believes that the USA's 2-0 victory over Australia created a new American soccer "culture."

The 2026 World Cup could hardly have started better for the USMNT. The vibes are at an all-time high after Pochettino's men cruised into the knockout stages thanks to mostly comfortable wins over Paraguay and Australia.

The final group stage game against already-eliminated Turkey on Thursday will likely see the manager make some significant changes to give a few underutilised players some minutes in order to help them maintain their match sharpness.

It could also be an opportunity for superstar forward Christian Pulisic to build up his fitness, with the 27-year-old insisting that he is ready to play again after missing the Australia game due to a minor knock he picked up in the opener.

Regardless of what happens in the dead rubber with Turkey and in the knockout stages, the USMNT has already won over the country - something that seemed a very difficult task after a dire March international break with blowout losses to Belgium and Portugal.

USMNT is creating a new soccer culture

The USMNT's success so far at the World Cup has completely shifted the mood. The 4-1 win over Paraguay was scintillating, the 2-0 over Australia was gritty. The atmospheres in Los Angeles and Seattle were impressive.

It's a far cry from just a year ago, when 70,000 Mexican fans packed out NRG Stadium for the Gold Cup final, leaving US supporters in the minority. Speaking to reporters during a media roundtable, Pochettino admitted that this was a "painful" experience.

The contrast to now couldn't be starker. The crowds, even in the two build-up games against Senegal and Germany, have been boisterous and unabashedly partisan.

The game against Australia in Seattle was a remarkable experience for Pochettino and the team. Almost 150,000 people passed through Pioneer Square near Lumen Field on the day of the game, while a sell-out crowd created a raucous atmosphere inside the stadium.

Thunderous chants of U-S-A echoed throughout the world's loudest outdoor arena and, when all was said and done, the team was serenaded with a deafening rendition of Take Me Home, Country Roads.

According to Pochettino, the moment the fans and the team sang together really hit home - he says that he is learning the lyrics - because it showed American soccer "culture" being created in real time. "That was nice in Seattle - to listen to your own culture appear."

The Argentine hopes that forging a closer bond between the supporters and the players will be what he is remembered for: "That is the most important legacy, the connection between the national team and the fans."

The road to get to this point was a long and difficult one, however. Pochettino admits that the national team program "was worse than we really believed" when he signed up for the job in 2024.

The complacency and lack of urgency in identifying fresh talent were a "punch" in the face for him and his staff. The US only finished fourth in the CONCACAF Nations League last year and then lost the Gold Cup final.

"It's difficult to analyze the process," Pochettino explained. "Like when you put the seed on the soil first, you don't see nothing, and then you start to grow the tree. And it was difficult to explain the plan because it's not easy.

"It's not like a football club that you [see] every day and you have every three days [a chance] to show that you progress. If you see all the process, [it] was a process that was necessary, necessary to change."

The change is now evident for all to see, and Pochettino may not be done yet. Controversy was sparked ahead of the World Cup when it was revealed that he held talks with AC Milan, who have since appointed Ruben Amorim.

There was - and remains - a widespread expectation that Pochettino will return to club management after the World Cup, but he insists that it's not as clear-cut, with most top jobs around Europe now taken.

"If we want to stay, we have months to talk or days or weeks because it's four years until the next World Cup," he joked. "We told the Federation we are open, but now I think it's not [the time] to be distracted, or to talk when all the energy needs to be with my players."