For Mauricio Pochettino and the USMNT, every game is a World Cup game

It's been 10 long weeks since the U.S. Men's National Team last took the field, and coach Mauricio Pochettino is feeling it. His players capped off 2025 with a spectacular 5-1 hammering of two-time World Cup winner Uruguay, and Pochettino would love nothing more than to build on that momentum.

He can't. The USMNT is smack in the middle of a four-month rest period before it regroups for World Cup preparations in March. Pochettino's Europe-based players are pushing through a busy festive period while his U.S.-based players are resting before Major League Soccer returns in February. 

No one is available...save Pochettino himself.

"Being very honest? It's tough," he laughed. "You really have to spend all this time, you know, watching football, assessing players, having meetings, doing different things, but not coaching!"

Never one for wasting time, Pochettino spent his winter evaluating his USMNT's performances in 2025 and getting ready for the rush of the 2026 World Cup. 

"I think it's a good opportunity for us to review the team," he conceded.

But what has Pochettino found during that review? And how will it impact the USMNT we see at the World Cup in June?

Impact and energy matter just as much as talent.

Pochettino's biggest takeaway from 2025 was a simple one: He needs to protect the USMNT collective, not the egos of individual stars.

To do that, Pochettino spent the offseason analyzing the energy and feeling of each of his 2025 USMNT rosters, then studying what each individual player brought to the mix.

"When we talk about the World Cup, it's about building a team that wants to perform without egos, to perform for the badge, not for the name on the back the shirt," Pochettino said.

Pochettino has called out Seattle's Cristian Roldan as a perfect example of this phenomenon: an all-around utility man who brings just as much energy to the team off the field as he brings on it. He might not have the name recognition of other USMNT stars, but he's a player whose presence can make everyone around him improve. USMNT fans can expect to see more from Roldan and players like him as the World Cup nears.