The Passion For Pochettino Is On Full Display

SEATTLE STADIUM — #PochOut. 

As recently as late last month, this hashtag could be found on social media with more frequency than any reasonable fan of the U.S. men's national soccer team might expect. 

The internet isn’t real life, obviously. But in the wake of another thrilling group stage win at the 2026 FIFA World Cup — a 2-0 triumph over Australia that sent Mauricio Pochettino’s team to the knockout stage with a game to spare for the first time in history — it's fascinating to think about the sometimes downright toxic negativity that, until very recently, spilled well beyond the way-too-online corners of the fanbase when it comes to the USA’s high-profile coach. 

Pochettino arrived on these shores in late 2024 with a well-earned reputation as one of global soccer’s top club managers. He’d taken Tottenham Hotspur, the Premier League’s perpetual underachiever, to the only UEFA Champions League final in its history in 2019. The Argentine won league and cup titles with Paris Saint-Germain, where he managed both Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé. After leaving Chelsea by mutual consent after taking the Blues from 12th to sixth in his one season in London, his name was floated every time a job opened at brand-name clubs across Europe. 

It was considered a near-miracle that the U.S. even landed him; he turned down more money to lead the Americans at their first World Cup on home soil in 32 years. 

Yet all it took was a few bad results for too many national team supporters to turn on him less than a year into the job. And it wasn’t just fans. 

What started with dispiriting losses to Panama and Canada in the 2025 Concacaf Nations League finals reached a low point in September, when South Korea outclassed the U.S. in a 2-0 loss