The U.S. Soccer Federation has reportedly offered men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino a new contract in the hopes of keeping him around after the World Cup, when his current deal expires.
The new contract would run through the next World Cup in 2030, according to The Athletic. Pochettino received the offer before this summer’s tournament, co-hosted by the U.S., and contract negotiations have been underway for several months but both parties have agreed to make a decision once the USMNT’s current run at the World Cup comes to a close.
Pochettino, who took the job in the fall of 2024, has publicly expressed interest in sticking around but it has often been difficult to gauge how serious he was about a return and argued last month that it was the prerogative of his representatives to explore his options. He has been linked to a handful of jobs during the course of his tenure, most recently the AC Milan vacancy that went to ex-Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim.
The USMNT coach, though, also admitted he heard the USSF’s proposal about what the next four years would look like over dinner on May 24 at Jean-Georges, a restaurant located inside Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York.
“[U.S. Soccer CEO J.T. Batson] asked if we are open to listen [to] the project of the federation for the next four years and we said, of course, we are open,” Pochettino said days later. “It’s true until last Sunday, we didn’t have an idea if the federation was happy with us, not happy, wanted us for the future.”
He reiterated his interest again in the days building up to the Turkiye match, though he admitted his focus was fully on the games ahead when asked about what his future holds.
“I think it’s good that it’s now focused, focusing on the World Cup and then if we want to stay, we have months to talk or days, or weeks because it’s four years until the next World Cup, no?” he said on Tuesday.
Pochettino earns around $4 million annually, according to a tax filing covering the period from April 2024 to March 2025, though that number could stretch as high as $6 million through a bonus structure. He is amongst the highest-paid national team coaches in the world and is the highest-paid coach in the history of the federation, thanks in large part to the contributions of U.S. Soccer donors and commercial partners.
Though it is still unclear how likely a return would be, it is unsurprising to see U.S. Soccer engage in discussions with Pochettino for an extension. His tenure has been rocky at times, but their last-ditch effort to correct course with a talented group of players has paid off thus far, Pochettino shaking up the player pool and introducing a dynamic style of play that has benefitted a national team with impressive attacking options led by Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun. Their opening wins of the World Cup, a 4-1 victory over Paraguay and a 2-0 win over Australia, exemplified those efforts and are expected to anchor the team when they begin knockout play on Wednesday against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the meantime, Pochettino is being tasked with leading the USMNT to a statement-making finish in a World Cup on home soil. The U.S. have not won a World Cup knockout stage match since 2002, when they made an unlikely but memorable run to the quarterfinals.
