Mauricio Pochettino vows to turn USA fortunes around before 2026 World Cup

With just over a year before the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, the USMNT find themselves in a rather precarious position.

It was the Americans' second successive defeat after they lost 1-0 to Panama in the semi-final last Thursday, but Pochettino has downplayed the significance of the results and insisted they still have time to get themselves in line to host the global showpiece next year.

"It's better [to lose] now because I think we have time. If we will be in this situation in a year's time, for sure. I will tell you, 'Houston, we have a problem. SOS,'" Pochettino told reporters.

"Don't be pessimistic, and don't get bad feelings. We are all [disappointed] and the fans need to feel the disappointment that we didn't win, but I'm not going to allow [everyone] to feel pessimistic because I think we have good players.

"We are going to find a way to perform and, for sure, we are going to compete in a different way [going forward]."

The former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur boss, who was appointed to the US senior team in September last year, has overseen eight matches so far, winning five and losing three.

His next assignments will be friendly internationals against Turkey and Switzerland in June.

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