Ahead of the Pochettino's debut, GOAL looks back at how previous USMNT coaches made their first impressions
Mauricio Pochettino will be on the sideline Saturday for his first match in charge of the U.S. men's national team. It feels like a long-time coming. Nearly two months after news of his potential arrival first broke on Aug. 15 – and a month out from his official hiring on Sept. 10 – Pochettino's USMNT debut has finally arrived. This is the start.
It's a complicated path forward. With the 2026 World Cup being hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, Pochettino won't have to navigate World Cup qualifiers. But he will have a task much tougher: preparing this team to host on home soil. That process begins on at 9 p.m. ET Saturday against Panama in Austin, Texas, and continues next Tuesday when the USMNT face Mexico in Guadalajara.
Pochettino, of course, will be measured by how he does in 2026, not 2024. All coaches, ultimately, are judged by tournaments, and Pochettino will be no different. But it all has to start somewhere.
With that in mind, it's worth looking back at Pochettino's predecessors in the U.S coaching role. How did they fare in their opening camps and, was that any sort of indication of what was to come?
GOAL looks back at the debuts of previous modern era USMNT coaches, as they started on their paths to World Cups.
Getty Images SportBob Gansler (1989-91)
Ahead of what would ultimately be the USMNT's first World Cup appearance in 40 years, the federation handed the reigns to Bob Gansler, who was previously the U20 coach.
His first match in charge was a World Cup qualifier at Costa Rica, which, even back then, was a tough place to play. The USMNT fell 1-0, but had a chance for revenge just a few weeks later on home soil. Up 1-0 late, goalkeeper David Vanole made a crucial penalty kick save on Mauricio Montero, kickstarting the path toward the World Cup.
We all know what happened next. The famous Shot Around the World goal from Paul Caligiuri that November sent the U.S. to the World Cup for the first time since 1950, with Gansler's young squad ultimately getting thumped by Italy. Czechoslovakia and Austria on their way out in the group stage.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportBora Milutinovic (1991-95)
After struggling mightily in 1990, U.S. Soccer needed a new voice, one that would create a team whose sum was greater than its parts. Enter Bora Milutinovic, who already had plenty of international experience as a coach with Mexico and Costa Rica.
His first game in charge came in 1991, when he led the USMNT to a 1-0 victory over Uruguay in Denver. The goal came from a familiar face – current Sporting KC boss Peter Vermes – who took advantage of a botched offside trap from Uruguay to score the winner.
That was a big statement ahead of the Gold Cup that summer – the U.S. triumphed and claimed the inaugural trophy at the LA Memorial Coliseum.
It was a sign of things to come. Under the experienced head coach, the USMNT ended up advancing to the knockout rounds as hosts of the 1994 World Cup, making it out of the group for the first time since 1930.
Getty Images SportSteve Sampson (1995-98)
Previously an assistant under Milutinovic, Steve Sampson took the reigns in 1994, initially as an interim coach. His first two matches ended in defeat, starting with a 1-0 loss to Belgium and a 2-1 loss to Costa Rica in friendlies.
The U.S. turned it around form there, defeating Nigeria and Mexico in the run up to that summer's Copa America. The USMNT ultimately made it all the way to the third-place game, where they fell to Colombia after taking down Mexico and Argentina along the way.
Sampson led the team into the 1998 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stage once again after earning zero points against Germany, Yugoslavia and Iran.
AFPBruce Arena (1998-2006, 2017)
The only man to ever coach the team at two World Cups, Arena is the USMNT's most successful head coach. His time in charge, though, began with a fairly quiet start.
Arena's first game came in November 1998 as the U.S. hosted Australia in a friendly in San Jose. It finished scoreless, with defender Carlos Llamosa being sent off int he final minutes of the match. The next game, a friendly against Bolivia, also finished 0-0, but the U.S. then got on track with a 3-0 triumph over Germany for Arena's first win.
Arena built the USMNT up in the years that followed, leading the team all the way to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, which remains the best U.S. performance. He also claimed three Gold Cup titles, but left his post after a disappointing group stage exit at the 2008 World Cup.
He returned briefly in 2017, but was unable to steady the ship as the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament.
