2026 World Cup: Goalkeeping great makes USA, Mauricio Pochettino prediction for summer tournament

Brad Friedel is confident that the USA can have a memorable World Cup campaign next summer under the guidance of Mauricio Pochettino; however, he believes there will be one key thing holding them back from success.

While the USA will be sharing the hosting duties with Mexico and Canada in the summer of 2026, the majority of the fixtures will be staged in the States.

The former American international was part of the USA squad that last hosted the competition in 1994, when they reached the knockout stage, and he was key to the nation's campaign in the 2002 World Cup, when they reached the quarter-final.

This 2002 tournament was the USA’s second-best performance ever in the World Cup, with their finest-ever campaign coming in 1930, the inaugural competition, when they finished third.

Brad Friedel on the USA’s chances in the 2026 World Cup

Friedel spent a season under the managerial reign of Pochettino at Tottenham Hotspur, the final campaign of his professional career, and in this period, he learnt from the Argentine in a coaching capacity.

The 54-year-old has also watched his American managerial tenure keenly due to the desire to see his nation perform at a home World Cup; talking to Sports Mole exclusively through talkSPORT Bet Online Slots, he revealed how he expects Pochettino to approach the competition and how the nation will perform.

The former USA international said: “I'm in a fortunate position where I get to have a little bit more than a gut feeling with Mauricio because I was with him for over a year.

“And I did my pro licence with one of his assistant coaches. So, I've known Mauricio for a while, and I know how good he is. Mauricio is going to have a really good team assembled by the time the World Cup kicks off.

“He's one of the very best coaches out there, and his staff is one of the very best staffs. My gut feeling is that World Cups are very difficult to win. Mauricio's mentality will be to go win it.

“That's all he knows about. It's all he wants to do. My gut feeling tells me that we're going to get out of the group.

“And then my head is going to tell me that it really depends on who we're drawn against, on how far we go. If you're unlucky and you, let's just say, get drawn against Brazil, and then if you're lucky enough to beat Brazil, you could then be playing Germany or England. It's hard in World Cups.

“So, my expectations for them are to get out of the group for sure. And then after that, let's see who they're drawn against. But one thing's going to be for sure: the team's going to be good, they're going to be prepared, they're going to be ready, and they're going to compete.”

Mauricio Pochettino’s performance as USA manager

The Argentine was appointed as head coach of the USA in September 2024 to guide them to the World Cup after he left his role as Chelsea manager.

It has not been smooth sailing for Pochettino as the manager of the USA, having lost seven of the 22 matches he has been in charge of for the nation.

Notable poor performances came in the 2024-25 CONCACAF Nations League, when they lost to Panama in the semi-final before losing the final of the 2025 Gold Cup to Mexico.

However, there is a sense following the latest international window that things are coming together ahead of the World Cup, believing that the USA could impress in the 2026 competition.