Don't Miss

India's CWG 2026 Medal Tally Lowest In 24 Years, Yet Among The Best

Tactical Self-Destruction: How England Threw Away Their World Cup Final Dream

Bundesliga Blueprint: How Zee Plans To Complete India's Football Jigsaw

Manuel Neuer Doesn't Know Where To Stop: Not On The Pitch, Not In His Career

Advertisement

ENG

Login

Dark / Light mode

Oct 10,2026 08:43 AM IST

Mauricio Pochettino Says No Americans Among Top 100 Players Yet US Can Win World Cup

facebook

twitter

WhatsApp

Settings

Select Language

Dark / Light mode

Search

FIFA World Cup 11 Jun 26 to 19 Jul 26

arrow-down reddit snapchat twitter facebook comments email printer search bell top-nav reddit-fill snapchat-fill twitter-fill facebook-fill share whatsapp-fill bookmark arrow-rgt arrow-next arrow-up refresh close link cog star book zap cricket football tennis formula-1 badminton hockey golf boxing ndtv-n check left-arrow right-arrow

Sports Home 2026 FIFA World Cup News Mauricio Pochettino Says No Americans Among Top 100 Players Yet US Can Win World Cup

Related Articles

Story ProgressBack to home

Mauricio Pochettino Says No Americans Among Top 100 Players Yet US Can Win World Cup

Mauricio Pochettino was blunt in his assessment of American soccer talent. "We are USA and competing against Belgium, Portugal," the U.S. coach said after a pair of March losses in friendlies.

Read Time: 3 min

facebook

twitter

WhatsApp

reddit

E-mail

File photo of Mauricio Pochettino.© NDTV Library

Mauricio Pochettino was blunt in his assessment of American soccer talent. "We are USA and competing against Belgium, Portugal," the U.S. coach said after a pair of March losses in friendlies. "I think for sure Belgium and Portugal have in the top 100 players few, or some players playing in that top 100. I think we don't have." No Americans were listed among the top 100 when The Guardian published its annual list in December. Christian Pulisic was 116th in the voting by a panel of 219 former players, coaches, technical staff and media. Tim Weah was next at 183rd.

Spain placed 14 in the top 100, France 10, Brazil and England nine each, and Argentina and Portugal eight apiece.

"I don't think our talent is far -- or much less than any other country in my humble opinion," retired American forward Jozy Altidore said. "I think we're just as talented. So for me, I'm that crazy guy. I believe and I know the players believe, but, why not? Why not us?"

U.S. players and staff are thinking big, hoping the red-white-and-blue can win its first World Cup title or at least reach the semifinals for the first time since 1930.

Americans still have to prove themselves to much of the soccer world.

"We want to do this for ourselves. We want to do this for our own country. We don't need to prove to anyone else," Pulisic said. "We have good players, really good players playing in top clubs in the world. We have a good team and, yeah, we're going to do the best we can to prove ourselves right more than anything."

Tyler Adams, the captain in 2022 and the team's top defensive midfielder, sees the goal as to go as far as any team has before."

"It's just been a while, I feel like, since we've knocked off a big boy," he said. "I think we need to try and find that in our character and I think that we will."

Dreams and reality have collided for the U.S. in the World Cup. The Americans are 1-7 in World Cup knockout games, their only win over regional rival Mexico in 2002 before a quarterfinal loss to Germany.

Since then, they lost in the round of 16 in 2010, 2014 and 2022, failed to advance from the group stage in 2006 and didn't even qualify for 2018.

Despite the lack of pedigree, Pochettino told players in March they can win the title.

"Why not us? Why not us? Why not us?" he said. "We need to really believe that we can be there. We need to dream."

Pulisic in 2021 became the first American to play in and win a European Champions League final, helping Chelsea to the title. He is one of six American World Cup-bound players on clubs ranked among the top 40 by UEFA coefficient, spending the past three seasons with No. 30 AC Milan.

That list includes midfielder Malik Tillman (No. 9 Bayer Leverkusen), midfielder Weston McKennie (No. 25 Juventus), defender Sergino Dest and forward Ricardo Pepi (No. 26 PSV Eindhoven) and defender Alex Freeman (No. 39 Villarreal).

Goalkeeper, once an American strength with Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel and Tim Howard all starting for English teams, is now a weakness. This will mark the first time a Major League Soccer goalkeeper appears for the U.S. at a World Cup.

"Goalkeeping is definitely a concern," said former American midfielder Stu Holden, now a Fox commentator. "We haven't had a standout goalkeeper now for a number of years, but yet you have an opportunity to change the perception of who you are by one tournament."

Matt Freese, the likely starter, made his international debut last June and has just 15 appearances.

"Not really, not really listening to anyone outside of the guys with me and the coaching staff," he said.

The U.S. team often plays home games in front of crowds with a majority cheering on the opponent, which happened during games against Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Morocco, South Korea and Turkey.

"Americans are some type of fans that show out and show up for the big things even if they don't love soccer," McKennie said. "Any big event, we know how to put on a show and we know to show up, so I think it's a huge advantage."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Featured Video Of The Day

CWG 2026 Weightlifting Gold Medallist, Mirabai Chanu Get Hero's Welcome in Delhi

Topics mentioned in this article

Football 2026 FIFA World Cup United States United States

Get the Latest Cricket, Asian Games 2026, Football , Hockey, Badminton Scores, F1 Results at NDTV Sports. Like Us On Facebook Or Follow Us On Twitter For More Sports Updates. You Can Also Download The NDTV Cricket App For Android Or iOS.

Advertisement

Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com

Advertisement

Advertisement

Players - Top Goals

Player Matches Goals Mbappé Mbappé France 8 10 Messi Messi Argentina 8 8 Haaland Haaland Norway 5 7 Bellingham Bellingham England 8 7 Kane Kane England 7 6

Player Matches Assists Michael Olise Michael Olise France 8 7 Messi Messi Argentina 8 4 Odegaard Odegaard Norway 5 4 Mbappé Mbappé France 8 4 Brahim Brahim Morocco 6 4

No Teams MP Goals GA 1 England England 8 20 12 2 France France 8 20 10 3 Argentina Argentina 8 19 8 4 Spain Spain 8 14 1 5 Belgium Belgium 6 14 7

No Teams MP Goals Assists 1 France France 8 20 18 2 England England 8 20 14 3 Argentina Argentina 8 19 12 4 Spain Spain 8 14 10 5 Norway Norway 6 13 10

Full Stats

Full Stats

Full Stats

Full Stats

Now Trending

Advertisement

Trending Links

Follow us on:

facebook

twitter

Cricket

Football

More Sports

Formula 1 Tennis Hockey Badminton Golf Nba Kabaddi Shooting Swimming Table Tennis

This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics © Copyright NDTV Convergence Limited 2026. All rights reserved.