Former United States soccer star Alexi Lalas has highlighted a potential issue with the US Men’s National Team.
Mauricio Pochettino, who took charge of his first game last October after being appointed head coach, has no time to waste as he prepares his players for a 2026 World Cup on home soil.
The US will also compete in the CONCACAF Gold Cup this summer, and announced last week that the team will host Turkey and Switzerland in friendly games in June before the tournament kicks off.
Lalas took to social media after the fixtures were confirmed, and while he suggested both will offer the USMNT a challenge, he questioned if they will be enough to help prepare Pochettino‘s side to face the best of the best.
“Solid USMNT friendly games before summer Gold Cup. Turkiye (ranked 28th) and Switzerland (ranked 20th),” he wrote, taking to X.
“Not elite, but competitive and on par with USA (ranked 16th).
“Problem for Pochettino is so few competitive games vs elite teams before 2026 World Cup.”
While the Gold Cup provides a chance of silverware for the US, they are the highest-ranked nation featuring at the summer tournament.
Mexico are currently 19th in the FIFA World Rankings, three spots behind Pochettino’s team, and on paper appear the toughest opposition that the Americans could face.
Lower-ranked sides like Haiti, El Salvador, Curacao and the Dominican Republic will also compete alongside the likes of Canada and Panama, which are ranked a more respectable 31st and 36th, respectively.
First held in 1991, the USMNT has won the Gold Cup seven times, two fewer than Mexico, who are the reigning champions.
The only time the USMNT or Mexico have failed to win the tournament was back in 2000, when Canada took the trophy.
And while it would certainly be a positive for Pochettino to secure silverware within his first 12 months as head coach, Lalas is right to be worried over the limited preparation the Gold Cup will bring.
As hosts of the 2026 World Cup, the US also don’t need to go through qualifying for the tournament.
Neither do Canada or Mexico, with those two nations also hosting fixtures next summer.
“This also highlights another problem for Pochettino,” Lalas added on his State of the Union podcast.
“He’s going to have very few games, certainly next to none, when it comes to a competitive standpoint against the elites of the world before we ultimately judge him in the summer of 2026.
“Look, (Turkey and Switzerland) are two, I think quality opponents – not elite but quality opponents in the same vicinity as the United States.
“US is ranked 16th and I know they’re just FIFA rankings, Switzerland’s like up around 20th and Turkey is around 28th or something like that.
“But I think they’re all in the same vicinity, the same area of level, so I think these are good warm-up games, but again, these are just friendly games.
“These are warm-ups for the Gold Cup and they might even – dare I say it, unless and until the US plays Mexico and Canada – cause more problems and therefore be more competitive than some of the games the USMNT are going to play at least in the group stages of the Gold Cup.”
As Lalas suggests, Pochettino will be judged next summer, rather than this one, on the biggest stage of all.
At the World Cup, if the US go deep enough, they could end up playing the likes of defending champions Argentina, France, Spain, England or Brazil.
Before their summer fixtures, the USMNT will play Panama on Thursday (March 20) in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Nations League.
