After years of drift and false starts, the US men’s team is carving out identity and intensity under their new coach – just in time for a home World Cup There is something cosmically funny about all of this. Late last summer, the United States men’s national team went out and hired the most qualified manager it could find. The one with the most impressive coaching resume far of anyone US Soccer had ever employed on the men’s side. The most expensive, certainly. By a multiple. The man brought in to arrest the tailspin the USMNT had slowly slipped into after the 2022 World Cup. To finally unlock that elusive next level. To help a golden generation, or at least a shiny one, come good at last. To salvage something, anything, from a World Cup played mostly on home soil a year from now. Not to squander it all. And what should Mauricio Pochettino add to the US national team’s brew of aptitudes and attitudes but pluck and grit? The very same underdog mentality, the ferocity and fitness, that had once taken the US from global laughingstocks to merely unembarrassing and then to internationally competitiveness. Continue reading...

Missing stars and short on sparkle, the USMNT have still found something vital at this Gold Cup: a renewed sense of belief, identity and collective fight You can, as they say, only beat the teams in front of you. You can only play with the guys you’ve got. And you can only overcome the challenges you are confronted with. When the United States men’s national team gathered to embark on the ongoing Concacaf Gold Cup in early June, success at the regional championship was tricky to define for the seven-time champions. They would, after all, be appearing absent 10 regulars and entering an event that hardly offered up the world’s strongest opposition. Continue reading...

The United States struggled in friendlies but went on to win all three of its Gold Cup group games. On Sunday against Costa Rica, they face their biggest test yet. For as much as the Gold Cup gets denigrated, it’s a much tougher tournament than it might appear. The ongoing tournament is the 11th edition in the last two decades, and this year’s US are just the 10th team to make it through three group matches unscathed (Panama became the 11th on Tuesday). US manager Mauricio Pochettino has to be pleased with his team’s performance. After rough showings in the pre-tournament friendly matches, a 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago was cathartic, while a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia and a 2-1 victory against Haiti also showed that the US are trying to make winning a habit as their manager has asked. Continue reading...

Defender Megan Campbell and midfielder Denise O'Sullivan are ruled out of the Republic of Ireland's first friendly against the USA on Friday through injury.

Live updates from the 8pm BST kick-off in Atlanta Club World Cup key for Guardiola Man City revival Get in touch! You can email Daniel here Now Lavia is fit, assuming he stays so, Enzo Maresca will have a decision to make in every game, because he can only pick two of him, Fernandez and Caicedo. I fear the Argentinian may have a problem, his lack of athleticism perhaps set to be the deciding factor. Email! “This walking-paced, season-leggy tournament feels like Fifa’s version of a methadone clinic offered to ensure that revenues don’t dip during summer’s withdrawal season,” reckons Justin Kavanagh. “It’s on TV here in the USA, but to be honest, no slo-mo circus is going to distract from the pall of totalitarianism that is descending over this country. No amount of laughing gas is going to trump the sting of tear gas. Infantino shouldn’t be whoring out his circus here. Same goes for his World Cup next year.” Continue reading...

Fifa’s much-hyped Club World Cup and Concacaf’s Gold Cup opened to crowds far short of what organizers might have hoped Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here That the two events should coincide was so perfect as to almost feel heavy-handed. Donald Trump’s comically underattended military parade lurched through Washington DC at the exact same time on Saturday as the overwrought opening ceremony unspooled for Fifa’s beleaguered Club World Cup, in a definitely-not-full Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Trump’s jingoistic birthday bust contrasted painfully with the multimillion-strong turnout at the “No Kings” anti-Trump rallies that gathered all over the country. The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, meanwhile – or “Johnny”, as Trump pronounces the name of one of his favorite allies in the sports world – had promised the opening match of the swollen tournament he forced down the soccer world’s throat would be sold out. Instead, attendance between Inter Miami and Al Ahly, a fitting 0-0 stalemate, was announced at a still-better-than-expected 60,927 in the 64,767-seat venue. Continue reading...

United States men's coach Mauricio Pochettino tells his players they cannot pick and choose which games they will be available for.

In a CBS interview, Pulisic defended his summer break USMNT star says he was turned down from friendlies Christian Pulisic said that he asked the US national team coaching staff to be part of the two friendlies preceding the Gold Cup but not the tournament itself – a proposal that was rejected – and defended his decision to step away from the squad this summer. In an appearance on a live stream of CBS Sports’ Call it What You Want podcast on Thursday, Pulisic discussed his season with Milan, the second straight campaign that saw him play in 50 games. Towards the end of the season he said “my body started talking to me,” and he began to consider the need for rest. Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nick Ames and Paul Watson to look ahead to the Club World Cup which kicks off this weekend in the USA Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. On the podcast today: the panel set the scene for the Club World Cup. There are serious issues, ICE providing security at games, troops on the streets in LA and a travel ban. There are also concerns about player welfare, ticket sales and – alarmingly – the potential to expand the tournament to 48 teams next time around. Continue reading...

Is the USA men's national team in crisis?

Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe has been rested for the Republic of Ireland's two friendlies against the USA.

The continued fallout from Christian Pulisic’s decision not to join the USMNT this summer has exposed the incestuousness of elite soccer in the United States The United States men’s national team need a number of things. Some wins, after losing three straight games from March’s Concacaf Nations League through Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Turkey. A bit of momentum or indeed excitement for next year’s World Cup on home soil. A clear identity, or at least a rediscovery of the kind of grit that once made this team competitive. A goalscorer. The one thing the Americans do not need is another episode of parent-driven drama. But that’s what they have. Leander Schaerlaeckens is at work on a book about the United States men’s national soccer team, out in 2026. He teaches at Marist University. Continue reading...

Do you have any questions for one of the most successful football managers in the history of the sport? Emma Hayes has won a lot: seven league titles with Chelsea, five FA Cups and two League Cups – as well as the Olympic gold medal she secured last year in Paris with the USA women’s team. She has hit heights that few football managers can even imagine. So, what do you want to know? Maybe you have questions about her younger years growing up in north London, when she played for Arsenal? Or perhaps you would like to know about her time studying Spanish and sociology in Liverpool, or her master’s in intelligence and international affairs. Did she really want to be a spy – and has she used any of those espionage skills in her career, like Marcelo Bielsa? What about the upcoming Euros, how will England cope without Mary Earps, Mille Bright and Fran Kirby? And who will win it? Continue reading...

Former Spurs boss has been leading USA since late 2024 Tottenham job open after sacking of Ange Postecoglou Mauricio Pochettino pushed back against suggestions he is a candidate to take over the newly-vacant Tottenham Hotspur managerial position, telling reporters on Saturday that it was “not realistic” for him to leave his current role as US men’s national team manager. Pochettino had been considered a possible candidate to replace Ange Postecoglou, who was sacked by Tottenham on 6 June despite him leading the club to Europa League glory – the club’s first trophy in 17 years. However, Tottenham finished 17th in the Premier League, their lowest position since 1977. Continue reading...