Report: Pochettino agrees to become next USMNT head coach

The United States men's national team is set to hire former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino as its new head coach, sources told The Athletic's David Ornstein.

Pochettino has agreed to coach the U.S. through the 2026 World Cup, which it's co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, and is scheduled to begin work Sept. 7 against Canada, according to ESPN FC's Mark Ogden.

The Argentine can't officially sign on with U.S. Soccer until he works out a severance agreement with Chelsea, Ogden adds. He left the club in May with one year still remaining on his contract.

The job would be Pochettino's first in international management. He coached Tottenham to the 2019 Champions League final, led Paris Saint-Germain to a domestic treble in France, and most recently helped Chelsea finish sixth in the Premier League, returning them to European football after a one-year hiatus.

Pochettino also coached Southampton, where he met Matt Crocker, the man who led the search for the next U.S. head coach. The two were there when the Saints finished eighth in 2013.

Crocker served as England's technical director from 2013-20 and joined U.S. Soccer as sporting director after a second stint with Southampton.

Pochettino was considered the favorite to replace recently fired coach Gregg Berhalter - even though he was a seemingly ambitious target. The 52-year-old was one of the highest-paid managers in world football at PSG and Chelsea, and had just left the Blues amid a reported power struggle with club co-owner Todd Boehly and top management. But Crocker confirmed the federation was prepared to pay the next head coach a top-level salary.

Leading up to and during the 2022 World Cup, U.S. Soccer paid Berhalter $2.3 million, including a $900,000 bonus for qualifying.

"I know it's a really competitive market out there salary-wise, and we have to be competitive to get the level of coach that I believe can take the program forward in terms of achieving the results that we need to do on the field," Crocker said. "But I'm also really conscious that we need to continue to drive for higher standards and equality. I don't think that's going to be a stumbling block in terms of our investment.

"Our national team is a priority. It's something we're prepared to invest in and something that we will be investing in."