“Why Not US?”: Writings on the Wall, Lemons on the Table, and How Pochettino Transformed His Team

“Why not US?” reads the bold inscription on the wall behind US coach Mauricio Pochettino. Around these letters, and everywhere else, are handwritten messages Pochettino uses to inspire himself, his staff, and his team.

“The right mindset can change the game before it even starts,” one reads.

“When people believe in each other, impossible dreams become possible. Thank you for being more than a team. For being a family,” states another.

“Heart turns effort into belief, and when everything hurts, our heart makes us fight together.”

These words, along with the bowl of lemons in front of him—a manifestation of his belief in “energia universal,” a higher form of energy people can harness if they open their minds—are reminders of the mantras that matter to Pochettino. The US team's ability to embrace them has led to early success in this World Cup, with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay and a 2-0 win against Australia, fostering belief in those “impossible dreams.”

This is also why the sleepless nights Pochettino endured as an Argentina player at the 2002 World Cup are not repeating themselves 24 years later, now as a coach.

“I was so nervous as a player when I played in Japan against Nigeria with Argentina that I struggled to sleep the night before,” Pochettino shared with a group of reporters on Tuesday evening at the team hotel in Southern California. “Very difficult. But now, before our first match, it was the complete opposite.”

“I felt so confident because I told myself, ‘The players will perform well.’ My staff and I talked about how calm we were. Because when you feel the energy is good, that it’s right, everything is perfect, you tell yourself, ‘There’s no doubt they will succeed.’ And when you are convinced, you have that feeling that tells you, ‘Relax. No need to motivate, no need to talk, no need to do anything, because they know what they need to do.’ I think that’s why I slept so well and we were so calm.”

But things haven't always been this way for Pochettino. The Argentine coach admitted that leading the US proved a greater challenge than he anticipated when he signed his contract in 2024. He arrived at a team in need of change after a group stage exit at the Copa América on home soil. Pochettino, however, saw an exceptionally talented squad, an ambitious federation, and a home World Cup, and assumed the program would be on the same wavelength as him and his staff.

Reality, it turned out, was far different. As he put it himself, he was “naive” about the scale of the task.

“The situation was worse than we thought,” Pochettino said. “We were so excited. We explained to the players from day one when we signed, we said, ‘Oh, this is a World Cup.’ We were starting to play a year and a half after we signed, and in our minds, we had already started playing in the World Cup. But it turned out that only we felt that way.”

“We arrived with too much energy. And then, when we came here, we took a heavy blow and were knocked out for a while. We said, ‘What the hell?’ We were so enthusiastic. The World Cup is so close. Everyone will want to participate and come to the national team. And it turned out to be the opposite.”

Thus, the job became a longer process of breaking old habits and building new ones. This, according to Pochettino, could never have happened without struggle. He and his staff were brought in because something wasn't working. The Copa América failure made the federation believe change was necessary. However, that didn't mean change would be easy.

Pochettino had to create competition within the squad. He had to eliminate any sense of complacency. He wanted to ensure no player believed their spot in the lineup was secure. The task was complicated by the fact that this wasn't a club team, where staff and players are together daily and have matches every week. Progress couldn't be measured game by game and training session by training session. Sometimes months passed without the staff being able to work with the players.

“Change is always a process,” Pochettino said. “If you have the habit of going to one place every morning and someone tells you, ‘No, you can’t go there,’ you will fight because that’s your comfort zone. And you say, ‘No, I want my comfort zone. This is my habit, I won’t change it.’ If you don’t dare and aren’t brave enough to say, ‘No, maybe this time it will give me an opportunity to achieve something different.’ If you want to maintain your power, it’s difficult to evolve.”

This tension was evident to anyone watching the team's play. The 54-year-old US coach stated he had predicted the failure in the CONCACAF Nations League in March 2025, when his team lost 0-1 to Panama and 1-2 to Canada. He knew it would happen.

“It was painful, but it was necessary for people to realize where we stood,” Pochettino said. “Even the players had to understand that this way, it’s impossible to reach the World Cup in good condition.”

Pochettino used the Gold Cup tournament in the summer of 2025 as a turning point for the program. When star player Christian Pulisic decided to skip the competition, the coach brought in a number of new faces to lead the team to the final. He couldn't hold back tears after the loss to Mexico in Houston, and then solidified his faith in some of the lesser-known players in the fall, when the US recorded victories over Australia, Japan, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

In November 2025, the idea of “Why not us?” first emerged. This happened during a team meeting where Pochettino felt he hadn't fully earned his squad's trust. He sensed doubt—or perhaps just hesitation—and pointed to examples of teams like South Korea and Morocco (semifinalists in 2002 and 2022, respectively) from past World Cups.

Why couldn't the US achieve the same in 2026?

“Hey, come on, guys, are you listening to me?” Pochettino recalled asking the group. “We need to believe: Why not us?”

Now, the belief is there. And not just in the locker room.

Pochettino praised the crowds supporting the team this summer—from Charlotte to Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle. He recalled attending an American football game between Ohio and Texas in the fall of 2025 and wondering why the US national team couldn't attract similar crowds. The specialist also highlighted the experience of playing in tough environments against Guatemala and Mexico during the Gold Cup, where home fans were far outnumbered, and he hoped things could change.

Experiencing the World Cup atmosphere has been both enlightening and exciting for Pochettino. He stated that creating a stronger connection between fans and the team could be this team's legacy—if that support continues beyond this summer's tournament.

Pochettino is confident that the US can continue to achieve good results and inspire fans to come to the stadium. That's why, just as he wasn't nervous for the opening match, he says he won't be nervous for the knockout stages either.

The US has already secured first place in Group D. The team will play its final group stage match against Turkey, and then its Round of 16 match in San Francisco on the night of July 1-2.

After a long process that required more work than he might have initially expected, he believes his team is in the right place.

“In knockout matches, I think we need to prepare in the best possible way, be focused and concentrated, but at the same time enjoy the process of preparing for the match, rather than thinking, ‘What if we don’t win?’” Pochettino said. “We need to focus on our performance in the next action, and the next, and the next, rather than thinking about the consequences of the result. We just need to think and be focused on the performance.”

BY PAUL TENORIO, The New York Times