The USA lost to Türkiye in their final group stage match at the 2026 World Cup in what was a dead rubber match for the stars and stripes. But head coach Mauricio Pochettino was more concerned with the media reaction than he was his team’s performance.
The USMNT played a rotated lineup, resting several key players for the game thanks to winning their first two contests against Australia and Paraguay and already clinching the top spot in Group D. Türkiye also had nothing to play for except for pride as they were eliminated following two losses to start the tournament.
The game was an entertaining back-and-forth affair with little to lose and Türkiye got a last-minute winner in stoppage time to silence the home Los Angeles crowd. But while a win would have been nice, it really does nothing to damper the USMNT’s performances or momentum heading into a Round of 32 match against Bosnia next week.
And that’s the message that Mauricio Pochettino was trying to give to the assembled media at his post-match press conference. He called out reporters for not giving the team more credit for topping their group and being in a celebratory mood on Thursday night.
🗣️ “That is a little bit sad.”
Mauricio Pochettino was frustrated with journalists for not congratulating USA for topping their group 😬 pic.twitter.com/C4IB21cSGC
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 26, 2026
“It’s very positive to finish in the way that we finished. It cannot be possible, I’m sorry guys. It cannot be possible that Turkey finish celebrating the three points and Australia celebrating the qualification but I was celebrating the qualification and come here and for you not to say congratulations that we won the group, that is a little bit sad. But only that. I need to remember you and everyone that we won the group. Sorry guys, we won,” Pochettino said.
You can understand a little bit of where the USMNT head coach is coming from. Winning the group is a fantastic accomplishment for the team and interest in American soccer has arguably never been higher with the way they have performed in the group stage. It’s ok to celebrate and be happy, especially when the loss on Thursday night was completely meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Players got valuable experience, nobody was injured, and nobody was suspended. That’s most important.
But it’s not really the job of a reporter to be a cheerleader congratulate anyone on their sports accomplishment. It’s ok to leave that for the fans.
About Matt Yoder