As World Cup preparation kicks into high gear, United States men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino could be taking stock of his options after the tournament. The manager met with representatives from Milan about their head coaching job just last week, according to The Athletic. The Italian club look for a refresh after moving on from Massimiliano Allegri after not securing Champions League soccer for the upcoming season, with the Argentine looking like a potential candidate.
Pochettino’s contract with the United States Soccer Federation expires following the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Pochettino has indicated that he could stay on in the role, but being a respected coach around the world, as there are plenty of coaching openings in the global game, he’ll have suitors. The United States role is Pochettino’s first foray into managing a national team after stops with Espanyol, Southampton, Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea.
The man who brought him into the United States role, Matt Crocker, has already departed his own role as U.S. Soccer sporting director ahead of the World Cup to take on a similar role with the Saudi Arabian national team as the nation gears up to host the World Cup in 2034. Crocker and Pochettino worked together during their time at Southampton, and following this World Cup, U.S. Soccer will have plenty to do in order to determine the direction to take the national team ahead of 2030, and that doesn’t change if Pochettino is the manager or not.
Former Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola is one of the frontrunners for that Milan job, but it’s not a role that he’s keen on taking, with Sky Sports reporting that Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen would be his top options. Sources also indicate to CBS Sports that Milan met with Ralf Rangnick over a technical director role, which could influence the direction of the coaching role.
Has something like this happened before prior to the World Cup?
While coaches have been fired from national teams for taking coaching roles ahead of leading their team to the World Cup, Pochettino’s situation is much different from that of Julen Lopetegui, who was dismissed from the Spanish national team prior to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. After agreeing to take over Real Madrid, Lopetegui was replaced by Fernando Hierro, who led the team to a round of 16 exit on penalties to the host nation, Russia. It’s important to be committed to coaching your nation at the World Cup, especially considering the pressure that is on the United States to succeed in this tournament, and Lopetegui’s situation was more than just talking to a club — he had already agreed to the deal, which did not sit well with the Spanish FA.
It’d be a different situation if Pochettino took this meeting now that the team is training in Fayetteville, Ga., as that would show a lack of focus on the upcoming World Cup. But it’s a significant difference from a meeting cropping up ahead of the tournament, when he presumably has free time to take one, and it doesn’t mean that it will impact the World Cup. This will be something to watch ahead of tune-up friendlies facing Senegal and Germany prior to kicking off the group stage of the World Cup against Paraguay on June 12.
