With less than 22 months until the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in North America, the U.S. men’s national soccer team appears to have finally landed its big fish.
Former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino (above) is in line to become the next U.S. head coach, with an official announcement expected soon. The move comes after a failed effort to hire former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp. The U.S. fired Gregg Berhalter after his team couldn’t advance out of the group stage at the Copa América.
Pochettino was let go from Chelsea this spring after one season with the club, which finished sixth in the Premier League and didn’t qualify for this season of UEFA Champions League. His prior managerial experience includes two Ligue 1 titles overseeing Paris Saint-Germain, and taking Tottenham to a Champions League final. Along the way, he’s coached superstars Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, and Harry Kane.
Money Game
Berhalter’s most recently known annual compensation was $2.29 million in 2022, well below the eight-figure salaries top European managers make. “I know it’s a really competitive market out there salary-wise,” U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker said after firing Berhalter. “And we have to be competitive to get the level of coach that I believe can take the program forward.”
Pochettino is still owed money by Chelsea, according to ESPN, which is holding up an official signing with the U.S. It’s unclear exactly how much the manager is owed and what his salary last season was. Last month, The Telegraph reported Chelsea would be owed roughly $6.4 million if Pochettino accepted a job with another Big Six Premier League club, but nothing if he joined a national team. British tabloid The Sun reported Pochettino received a nearly $13 million buyout after leaving Chelsea.
USWNT Impact
Pochettino will be the second Blues manager hired by the U.S. in the last 12 months. Former Chelsea women’s coach Emma Hayes just led the U.S. women’s national team to its first Olympic gold medal since 2012.
Last fall, Hayes received a record contract for a women’s soccer manager from the U.S., including a $1.6 million annual salary that put her on equal footing with Berhalter before performance bonuses. A huge salary for Pochettino would complicate U.S. Soccer’s equal-pay efforts. But manager contracts are often not cut and dry, with clubs and national federations sometimes paying for only part of the total compensation, while sponsors pitch in for the rest.
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