The United States are heading into the 2026 World Cup with something bigger than a tournament target on the line. Mauricio Pochettino is being asked to turn a talented but erratic team into a side that can change how the sport is viewed in the country, and he is doing it while telling fans the Americans can win it all.
That is why the Australia Vs Usa World Cup search is spiking now. The United States are co-hosts of the tournament, and the conversation around them is no longer just about whether they can survive a group with Paraguay, Australia and Turkey. It is about whether a strong run would help force soccer into a different place in a sports market still dominated by the Premier League, Liga MX and the Champions League.
Pochettino carried that message in person on Monday, speaking to 5,500 fans at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, California, during an open training session. The coach arrived on a $6m-per-year contract and has a record of 15 wins, 10 losses and one draw over 22 months in charge, which explains why his optimism has been met with skepticism even as he keeps saying the United States can win the World Cup. A team that talks like a contender but has not consistently played like one is bound to be judged harshly.
Christian Pulisic put that pressure into plain language earlier this month. He said the team wants to do this for itself and for its own country, and added that the squad has really good players at top clubs around the world and intends to prove itself right. That matters because Pulisic is not speaking from the edge of the conversation. He is the face of the group that will be measured against the size of the moment.
The friction is impossible to ignore. Some observers still see the United States as a team that could crash out in the group stage or fall in the first knockout round, the same stage where they exited at Qatar 2022. Pochettino says otherwise. He has made confidence part of his message from the start, but confidence alone will not change the question that hangs over this team.
What would count as success is now the story. A routine advance would not shift much. A run deep enough to make the United States look like more than a promotional host would. That is the real test waiting in 2026: not only whether the team can compete with Australia and the rest of its group, but whether it can change the way American soccer is valued when the World Cup comes home.
