Highly regarded as one of the top managers in the world, Mauricio Pochettino was appointed head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team in August of 2024 with two years to prepare the team ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup being hosted in the United States.

Pochettino, 52, brings a wealth of managerial experience at the highest levels of club soccer, having coached Tottenham Spur and Chelsea in the English Premier League as well as French Ligue 1 powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain. In 2019, he led Spurs to the UEFA Champions League Final.

Known to favor a high-pressing, attacking style of soccer, during his career he has coached and mentored some of the top players in the world, including Lionel Messi, KylianMbappé, Neymar Jr. and Harry Kane.

A two-time winner of the Copa del Rey in Spain as a player, he earned 20 caps for the Argentina National Team including appearances in all three of its matches in the 2002 FIFA World Cup under then head-coach Marcelo Bielsa.

He began his coaching career at Espanyol in January 2009, where he spent three seasons before earning his first job in the English Premier League in January 2013 with Southampton.

In only his second season, he led Saints to the eighth spot in the table, matching their highest Premier League finish. For the 2014/15 season he was appointed manager of Tottenham Hotspur, finishing in fifth place. The next year they jumped to third, returning to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2010/11. Spurs remained in the top three for the next two seasons, then memorably reached the UEFA Champions League final where they fell to Liverpool.

Pochettino was appointed head coach of PSG in January of 2021, a club where he made 70 appearances as a player from 2001-03. They reached the semifinal of the Champions League that season and won the Coupe de France, finishing only one point behind Lille in the race for the league championship. The following year PSG succeeded in winning the Ligue 1 title.

He returned to the Premier League with Chelsea ahead of the 2023/24 season, improving on its 12th-place finish the year prior by moving up to sixth by the end of the campaign while reaching the EFL Cup final and the FA Cup semifinal.

The former Argentina international defender started his playing career at Newell’s Old Boys in his homeland before moving to Espanyol in Spain at the start of the 1994/95 season.

He joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2001 and represented his country at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, before having a spell at Bordeaux and then returning to Espanyol in 2004, where he retired aged 34 after making more than 300 appearances and winning the Copa del Rey twice.

The son of farmers Hector and Amalia in Murphy, Argentina, Mauricio and his wife Karina have two sons, Sebastian and Maurizio.