Christian Pulisic and the United States men’s national team now know exactly who stands between them and their first response to a disappointing home World Cup.
US Soccer confirmed that the USMNT will play four friendlies during the merged September-October FIFA window: Peru on September 26 at Inter.co Stadium in Orlando, Chile on September 29 at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Mexico on October 3 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, and Canada on October 6 at Allianz Field in St. Paul.
These will be the USMNT‘s first matches since their 2026 World Cup run ended in the Round of 16, where the U.S. fell 1-4 to Belgium. Much was expected of Pulisic, whose own tournament was hampered by injury throughout.
He was electric in the opener against Paraguay, picking up an assist, before a calf knock forced him off at halftime, and while he returned for the following matches, his form dipped noticeably by the time the U.S. faced Bosnia and Herzegovina and Belgium — a drop-off later explained by a bone bruise and microfracture he was playing through.
Pochettino locked in through 2030
These friendlies also double as the first fixtures of a newly extended era. Despite the underwhelming World Cup exit on home soil, Mauricio Pochettino agreed to a new USMNT contract that runs through the 2030 World Cup, a deal U.S. Soccer framed as a long-term bet on continuity rather than a reaction to a single tournament.
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“Working together with U.S. Soccer over the past two years, it has become clear to us that there is tremendous potential to make the Men’s National Team program even stronger,” Pochettino said. He also pointed to ambitions beyond results on the field, saying the goal is to have a lasting impact on the sport in the country that has welcomed him so warmly.
US Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone backed the extension, pointing to Pochettino’s experience as a boost not just for the senior team but for the broader player development pipeline, and citing the long tenures of coaches like Lionel Scaloni and Didier Deschamps as models for sustained success across multiple World Cup cycles.
