'Workaholic' Mauricio Pochettino could leave USMNT after 2026 World Cup as 'big clubs' will want him

Ex-Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss Pochettino stepped into a prominent post on American soil in September 2024. He was charged with the task of ensuring that a so-called ‘Golden Generation’ of talent is ready to fulfil undoubted potential on the grandest of stages.

That process has not been without the odd challenge, but the USMNT are confident that they can compete with the very best in the business when the global elite descend on their own backyard. Pochettino is only under contract until the World Cup finals come to a close.

Coaches in international football tend to work on tournament cycles, with clear beginnings and ends to any given era being easy to find, so will Pochettino follow that trend and bow out when his current deal comes to a close - regardless of how the U.S. fare next summer?

When that question was put to Friedel, the ex-USMNT goalkeeper - speaking in association with ToonieBet - told GOAL: “That’s a great question. I’m quite close with one of his assistant coaches. I think that because he has had to come in and change the culture in the States, if they do well then I could see him staying for another cycle.

“I know he is a guy that likes to build, he likes to have continuity and stability. But he also likes to know that he has quality. I don’t know what he thinks of the next four years on his paper, of what’s going to happen when - as happens with national teams - a few people age out, and are the wrong people ageing out to be successful for the next four years.

“It’s a really good question. I would probably say this: If it doesn’t go well, probably ‘no’. If it goes incredibly well and they win it, I don’t think he stays. If it’s somewhere in the middle and it’s good and building, then I think there is probably a chance. That would be my guess.”

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Pochettino has admitted that he intends to head back to club management at some stage, telling BBC Sport: “The Premier League is the best league in the world. Of course I am missing it. I am so happy in America but also thinking one day to come back to the Premier League. It's the most competitive league.”

On missing the day-to-day interaction of working at domestic level, with international camps often months apart, Friedel added on Pochettino’s professional drive: “He’s a workaholic, and his whole staff are. I can say from personal experience, not at the senior level but the U19 national team, you do miss the day-to-day because you are scouting and meeting with people and talking a lot more than you are on the pitch.

“I can see how any manager, especially on the younger side, would miss club management. When the tournament comes around, then you want to be nowhere else except for there because it’s the big stuff. I can see two things. I can see, one, big clubs wanting him. And two, I can understand him wanting the day-to-day because he is a workaholic and very good at his job.”

Pochettino’s stock remains high, so there is every chance that a “big” club will come in for him during the summer of 2026. Teams around the world will be assessing their options at that stage, with many opting for a change in the dugout.

The USMNT will not be worrying themselves about interest from afar just yet, though, as collective focus there is locked on the group stage draw for the 2026 World Cup - which is set to take place at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on December 5.