U.S. Men's National Team Loses 4-1 to Belgium and Exits World Cup

The U.S. men's national team exited the World Cup after a 4-1 loss to Belgium on July 6. US Soccer chief executive JT Batson said Thursday that the federation remains in active discussions with Mauricio Pochettino and his staff about the coach's future.

Pochettino's contract ends with the 2026 World Cup and was funded in part by billionaire donors. Batson spoke at a roundtable with media in Georgia. He stated that the organization would take a break after the tournament to rest and recuperate before making decisions.

““We are going to take a break after the World Cup and rest and recuperate,” US Soccer chief executive JT Batson said at a roundtable with media on Thursday when asked about Pochettino. “I didn’t get to do too much resting and recuperating, but we’re excited about the discussions. [Pochettino and his staff] have been active about long-term planning. As a recent example, [they] were active in our discussions with Steve [Cherundolo] around the U-23 role. We’re feeling good about where we are overall, and we’re looking forward to the discussions.” Matt Crocker resigned as sporting director in April 2026 and took a similar role with Saudi Arabia. Batson noted that a workforce of more than 600 people continues operations without a single figurehead executive. COO Dan Helfrich said the federation draws on expertise from Oguchi Onyewu, Barry Pauwels, Tracey Kevins and Emma Hayes for both near-term choices and longer-term structure. Helfrich and Batson declined to say whether another sporting director would be among upcoming hires.”

““We feel confident we have a great team, and that great team has soccer expertise from deep within the American system and soccer expertise from other parts of the world,” Helfrich said. “As we are talking about and making strategic choices, we have [vice-president of sporting] Oguchi Onyewu and [head of development] Barry Pauwels and [head of women’s youth development] Tracey Kevins and Emma Hayes who are part of the discussions we’re having, both about near-term choices and about longer-term structure. I anticipate, in the months to come, there’s a little more clarity on structure, but the fundamentals of the team are there.””