Balogun: 'Nobody' Has Guaranteed World Cup Spot For USA Under Pochettino

Folarin Balogun says that Mauricio Pochettino has ensured that no U.S. men's national team players feel their place is guaranteed, which only makes the Monaco striker's recent goals feel all the more important. After missing much of 2025 with injury issues, Balogun returned to full fitness in the fall and has been scoring for club and country.

Throughout much of 2025, his first full year as USMNT boss, Pochettino stressed that the door was wide open for anyone and everyone to fight for World Cup spots. That message was only further reinforced following the USMNT's thrashing of Uruguay to close 2025, with Pochettino hitting back at the media over the concept of the team having "regulars" in the player pool.

The message has been heard loud and clear, Balogun says. The striker position is almost always determined by form anyway, but given the culture developed by Pochettino, Balogun says the entire USMNT is feeling the pressure to perform in these final few months before the World Cup.

"I think you have to give credit to Pochettino and his staff," the striker told FIFA. "They have created an atmosphere where nobody feels like their place is guaranteed. I think that is the most important thing you can do when you have such a big pool of players like the USA does. It was easy for maybe some guys who didn't get previously called up to almost psychologically go into a place where you don't feel like you can get picked, you don't feel like your domestic league warrants you getting picked for the national team because that's what you've been shown before.

"But Pochettino has come in with a completely new philosophy and if he thinks someone is playing well and is playing in a division like Major League Soccer then he will pick