ATLANTA – For roughly a year and a half since assuming the helm of the U.S. men’s national team, Mauricio Pochettino has conducted an aggressive experiment to find the best version of the team, first by introducing an entirely new cast of characters to the squad and then trying them out in as many different formations as possible. The results have ranged anywhere from the surprise hit that is ranch dressing on pizza to the dissatisfying sweet potato fry, several of his endeavors valiant as he tries to reinvent the team. Yet as the final whistle blew to confirm the USA’s 2-0 loss to Portugal on Tuesday, it was hard to beat an unpleasant realization.
In his 24th and final game before he names his World Cup roster, Pochettino has gotten close to a fresh and dynamic new look for the USMNT but has yet to stumble upon a consistent one and one that nips old problems in the bud once and for all.
Tuesday’s final experiment was a fascinating one. Pochettino rolled out four in the back, much as he did against Belgium after a five-game stretch with three center backs, but had some fun with his options in attack. Not only did he position Christian Pulisic as a No. 9, pushing him further towards goal in the hopes of getting him his first goal of 2026, but all-rounder Weston McKennie was a central figure in attack and was ultimately the U.S. player who was furthest forward before his halftime change. The intensity that Pochettino preached a day earlier was easy to spot – a wide range of players from McKennie to Alex Freeman were pressing forward and occasionally trying fun things, while Pulisic took three shots before he was subbed off at the break alongside McKennie.
There was promise, especially as McKennie followed up a performance against Belgium where he was all over the pitch with one where he was the USMNT’s most notable attacking conduit at times. He was further up the pitch than Pulisic at times, aggressive as he waited for the ball to drift ever so slightly away from a Portuguese player. It added another attacking dimension to the USMNT, Pochettino finding new uses for McKennie’s wide-ranging skill set in the midst of a career-best season for Juventus.
“I think with Pochettino, it’s kind of the guys that are in the front – whether it’s Christian, Malik [Tillman] or me or Timmy [Weah] or Gio Reyna or whoever, Brenden Aaronson – I think he sees the abilities that we have and allows us to kind of freely move in between each other and switch roles,” McKennie said post-match. “There’s time where Christian dropped down and I was high up or times where I was on the left side and going back to the right side and I think if we all have a clear [understanding], I think that’s the method that we’re trying to [play with].”
Pochettino’s mission to get Pulisic his first goal in three months – and his first international goal since November 2024 – ultimately fell short, the forward understandably growing more frustrated by the day, even if the head coach maintains belief that the rut will come to an end.
“I think he was very active and I think he [did] a good job,” Pochettino said. “I think he was involved in too many actions. Unlucky, a shame a little bit that he didn’t score with the opportunity that he has. It’s normal … Yes, he feels frustrated but that is what we want, what we expect but he was fighting, he was committed in the phases that we demand more and then with the ball, he’s going to score because he has the quality. I am sure that he is going to come back to his club and in the moment he scores, he’s going to start to score again.”
Defensive problems, though, proved costly yet again for the USMNT. Francisco Trincao bagged the first in the 37th minute, capitalizing on the U.S.’ overly ambitious attacking shape that left gaps behind them. Pochettino said he warned his players that could happen during the hydration break midway through the first part, in large part because Portugal had already identified that tendency in their opponent.
“In possession, we wanted to play with Weah and [Antonee Robinson] so high, giving the channel on the side to attack,” Pochettino said. “But in that situation, we need to be better because when the ball is 50-50, when we don’t have clear control of the ball and the clear capacity to move from one side to another, if you lose the ball and you’re a fullback in that moment that’s playing like a wingback, he’s too high. You don’t have time to recover the position because Auston [Trusty] did well but the moment that one run was on his back and the fullback arrived late, that is the type of action that we need to improve … We need to understand when the ball is on the other side, I don’t need to be too high. I need to be on the line of the ball.”
Joao Felix’s goal in the 59th minute came off a different type of error, one in which the USMNT had all their players in the box during a Portugal corner but left three opposing players unmarked outside the penalty area. Pochettino attributed the error to the heavy number of substitutions both teams made, creating some confusion as it pertained to the specifics of players’ individual roles on the set piece.
“Obviously we have the zone and we have set piece markers,” Trusty said about Felix’s goal. “It’s a good set piece, took it to the back and then just hits it. Doing that, we got to think, he has to get the ball to bodies and if they hit one of the bodies, it’s a straight counterattack but it went through and it’s hard for [goalkeeper Matt] Freese to see that.”
The USMNT took a glass-half-full approach post-match, arguing Portugal and Belgium offered a glimpse at what is required of them to make the leap many are desperate for them to make at this summer’s World Cup on home soil.
“I think when you play against those teams, it’s a lot less chaotic,” Sebastian Berhalter said. “I think it’s a lot more controlled and guys have great first touches so pressing makes it even harder but it’s not as all over the place in the center in the sense of you’re waiting and waiting and when you get your chance, you’re going.”
There is an unshakable feeling, though, the USMNT may not be able to rise to the challenge in time for this summer’s tournament. The U.S. are now on an eight-match losing streak against European sides, their second-worst run against opponents from that continent. They are running out of time to change that – their final pre-World Cup friendly is against Germany, while a European foe in Turkiye awaits in the Group D finale after they officially qualified for the World Cup hours before the USMNT kicked off in Atlanta. For now, they just might be kicking the can down the road.
“Always,” Pochettino said on the prospect of this iteration of the U.S. beating a top-tier foe, “[there’s] hope the first time is going to be in the World Cup.”
