{"id":914439,"date":"2026-06-21T13:13:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T18:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/21\/pochettino-led-usmnt-make-history-in-world-cup-group-stage-mlssoccer-com\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T13:13:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T18:13:45","slug":"pochettino-led-usmnt-make-history-in-world-cup-group-stage-mlssoccer-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/21\/pochettino-led-usmnt-make-history-in-world-cup-group-stage-mlssoccer-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Pochettino-led USMNT make history in World Cup Group Stage | MLSSoccer.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<div role=\"main\" id=\"main-content\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-label=\"Page main content\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n<div data-bucket-name=\"main-content-before-middle-adv\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Head coach Mauricio Pochettino and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/us-men-s-national-team\/\">US men&#8217;s national team<\/a> are in unprecedented territory.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Yanks have booked a knockout-round spot at the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/\">FIFA World Cup<\/a> as Group D winners with a game to spare, courtesy of Friday&#8217;s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/2026\/matches\/usavsaus-06-19-2026\">2-0 win<\/a> over Australia and last week&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/2026\/matches\/usavspry-06-12-2026\">4-1 rout<\/a> of Paraguay.<\/p>\n<p>The USMNT have set several program records along the way; their six points are the most for the team in a World Cup group stage, and it&#8217;s the first time the US have won two group matches since 1930.<\/p>\n<p>Already knowing they&#8217;ll play the Round of 32 in the San Francisco Bay Area, the USMNT will look to sweep Group D when they meet T\u00fcrkiye on June 25 in Los Angeles (10 pm ET | FOX, Telemundo, Peacock).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f Country roads, take me home\u2026<br \/>To the place I belong \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4VIK9kCMuE\">pic.twitter.com\/4VIK9kCMuE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 U.S. Soccer Men&#8217;s National Team (@USMNT) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USMNT\/status\/2068115181490798711?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h3>USA 4, Paraguay 1<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>Any World Cup nerves turned into euphoria on the tournament&#8217;s second matchday, with the USMNT cruising to a commanding 4-1 victory over Paraguay.<\/p>\n<p>Christian Pulisic was the catalyst for an early own goal, Folarin Balogun netted a first-half brace, and Giovanni Reyna rounded out the scoring with a sensational late strike.<\/p>\n<p>The opening game in Los Angeles could not have gone much better.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n                                <iframe data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BXD1_mhODBU?feature=oembed\" allowfullscreen title=\"United States vs Paraguay Highlights \ud83c\udf0e\ud83c\udfc6 2026 FIFA World Cup\u2122\"><\/iframe>\n                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h3>USA 2, Australia 0<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>With first place in Group D on the line, the USMNT shipped up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/seattle-sounders-fc\/\">Seattle Sounders FC<\/a>&#8216;s home stadium and played before a massive crowd of 66,925 fans.<\/p>\n<p>Balogun created another early own goal, and former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/orlando-city\">Orlando City<\/a> star Alex Freeman headed home a rebound as halftime approached.<\/p>\n<p>The USMNT found solutions while Pulisic (calf) was out injured; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/fc-dallas\/\">FC Dallas<\/a> homegrown product Ricardo Pepi stepped into the starting lineup during the 2-0 victory.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n                                <iframe data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wc2mjLXsuVM?feature=oembed\" allowfullscreen title=\"United States Scores TWO GOALS in First Half vs Australia \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\"><\/iframe>\n                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h3>Pochettino Effect<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>The USMNT hired Pochettino in September 2024 with a clear mandate to perform at this summer&#8217;s expanded World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>So far, so good from the Argentine manager, whose r\u00e9sum\u00e9 includes famed clubs like Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Pochettino has found a consistent starting group that features <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/new-york-city-football-club\/\">New York City FC<\/a> goalkeeper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/matt-freese\/\">Matt Freese<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/charlotte-fc\/\">Charlotte FC<\/a> center back <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/tim-ream\/\">Tim Ream<\/a>, deployed alongside European-based stars.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Most of all, the USMNT are inspiring the nation and allowing fans to dream of making a deep knockout run.\u00a0Pochettino is feeling the love from supporters nationwide, too.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Even if I am not American, after the game I was emotional because the atmosphere was amazing,&#8221; Pochettino said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;\u2026 If we want to achieve big things, we need the support of our fans. There were fans here in Seattle, but also around the country they are all supporting us. We feel that support and that energy. It&#8217;s amazing for the team.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-toggle data-layout-name=\"grid_4-4-4\" data-bucket-name=\"main-content-after-middle-adv\">\n<div>\n<p>Get the latest from MLS: league news, must-see matches, kit drops, premium offers for the World\u2019s biggest event, and more!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/news\/mauricio-pochettino-usmnt-make-history-in-world-cup-group-stage\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Luz Culton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer Head coach Mauricio Pochettino and the US men&#8217;s national team are in unprecedented territory. The Yanks have booked a knockout-round spot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup as Group D winners with a game to spare, courtesy of Friday&#8217;s\u00a02-0 win over Australia and last week&#8217;s 4-1 rout of Paraguay. The USMNT have set several [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":914440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150456,2005,44007],"tags":[150455,44006],"class_list":["post-914439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pochettino-led","category-soccer","category-usmnt","tag-pochettino-led","tag-usmnt"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}