The 4-1 loss to Belgium in Seattle on July 6 is the number Pochettino's squad has to live with. That's how the U.S.'s best-ever World Cup ended — not with a dramatic penalty shootout, not a narrow defeat, but a hiding in front of a home crowd that had finally started to believe.
Now they regroup. And Pochettino has decided the best way forward is to look sideways — at a generation of teenagers who weren't even watching MLS matches four years ago.
Cavan Sullivan is the obvious headline, but don't sleep on Neil Pierre
Eight teenagers made the squad for September and October friendlies against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada. The one everyone's talking about is Cavan Sullivan, 16, of the Philadelphia Union — and fairly so. Six goals and eight assists in his last eight MLS matches is the kind of form that earns call-ups at any age. He's already committed to Manchester City once he turns 18. The potential is obvious.
But Sullivan hasn't faced senior internationals yet. Production in MLS and production against a Chilean or Canadian defender on a Tuesday night are different things. That gap gets closed in camps like this one.
The quieter name to track is Union teammate Neil Pierre, 18. A ball-playing center back with four goals and an assist this season, Pierre arrived at camp nervous — by his own admission — but handled media questions with a composure that didn't match his age. The U.S. backline lost German-American prospect Noahkai Banks to Germany's setup, which means Pierre's path to regular minutes just got a little clearer. Miles Robinson, who is among the most-capped players in this camp at 41 appearances, had a straightforward assessment: "He's calm on the ball, technical. Just to see him at 18 years old, in this camp, really proving himself day-by-day."
That kind of endorsement from an established defender matters.
Pochettino is here until 2030, and the program is being built around that fact
The proof-of-concept phase is over. Pochettino signed an extension through 2030, and with a $250 million training facility, a loaded fixture list, and the 2028 LA Olympics on the horizon, the infrastructure around him is substantial. He's not just coaching matches now — he's one of the principal architects of where U.S. men's soccer goes next.
The squad he's working with this window is deliberately lopsided. Twelve World Cup returnees provide the spine; the teenagers provide the competition and the long-term answers. Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Folarin Balogun are all absent, which opens the floor further. Gio Reyna, who winced slightly when a reporter called him a veteran at 23, is effectively the bridge between the experienced core and the new faces.
"I'm looking forward to getting to know them better on and off the field," Reyna said. "Just try to help them and show them what we've built."
The friendlies themselves — Peru, Chile, Mexico, Canada — are a sensible mix. Two Concacaf rivals who will bring edge, two South American sides with something to prove after difficult recent runs. No points, no rankings implications, but real tests for players trying to hold or earn a spot in Pochettino's thinking.
Miles Robinson put it plainly when asked what pulling the badge back on meant to him: "There's so much good in our country, but there's also so much bad. So we're trying to represent the good and push forward."
That's the ask. The 2030 World Cup is the destination. Right now, they're just trying to figure out who gets on the bus.
