Pochettino winningest – Mauricio Pochettino, hired in September 2024, has already become the winningest U.S. men’s national team World Cup coach after three World Cup victories—surpassing Bruce Arena and Robert Millar.
The U.S. doesn’t just have a World Cup coach anymore—it has a record. And it landed fast.
Two World Cup matches into his tenure, Mauricio Pochettino now owns three World Cup victories with the U.S. men’s national team, more than any coach in American men’s soccer history. The total came after the Americans picked up wins in group play against Paraguay and Australia. then advanced with a round-of-32 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
With those three victories, Pochettino has more World Cup wins than Bruce Arena, who had two when the Americans reached the quarterfinals in 2002, and more than Robert Millar, who also won two group-stage games in 1930, when the U.S. reached the semifinals.
The speed of the turn is part of what makes the moment feel so sharp. Before this run, Pochettino had never coached a World Cup game.
He was brought in just months after a rocky U.S. summer. The Americans hired him in September 2024, right after they were bounced from the group stage of the Copa America. In that tournament, the U.S. lost to Uruguay and Panama, a result that was supposed to be a warmup for the home World Cup.
That hiring came with a striking price tag: Pochettino replaced Gregg Berhalter on a $6 million a year contract, making him the highest-paid coach in U.S. soccer history.
The record is now visible in clean numbers: Pochettino leads with 3 World Cup wins as head coach. Bruce Arena follows with 2, then Robert Millar with 2. Bob Bradley has 1, Gregg Berhalter has 1, and Jurgen Klinsmann has 1. The list also includes Jurgen Klinsmann, Bora Milutinovic with 1, and William Jeffrey with 1.
Even before the U.S. looked this sharp in tournament matches. the decision to move on from Berhalter was already a statement—one that carried immediate financial weight and high expectations. Pochettino’s early success at the World Cup turns that investment into something measurable. and it also raises the question that hangs over every big hire: whether this is a surge that can last. or the start of something the program hasn’t quite seen in this era.
USMNT Mauricio Pochettino World Cup Bruce Arena Robert Millar Gregg Berhalter coaching record