Gareth Southgate has been out of management for two years. He might not be for much longer — just not in the way England fans would recognise.
ESPN have tipped the former Three Lions boss as a candidate to replace Mauricio Pochettino as USMNT head coach, with Pochettino's future increasingly uncertain after USA were dismantled 4-1 by Belgium in the Round of 16. Southgate's name surfaced within hours of England's own World Cup exit — a 2-1 semi-final defeat to Argentina that brought its own avalanche of recriminations.
Two World Cup flameouts, one news cycle. Make of that what you will.
Why Southgate makes sense for the USMNT
ESPN senior editor Caitlin Murray made the case plainly: the USMNT needs "a manager with a proven track record on the international level and in tournament soccer." Southgate has that. Two European Championship finals, a World Cup semi-final, a quarter-final — he consistently got England to stages they hadn't reached in decades. He couldn't win it, but he knew how to navigate a tournament, which is a specific skill a lot of high-profile club coaches have discovered, to their embarrassment, does not transfer automatically.
Murray's wider point is sharp. Pochettino, Ancelotti, Nagelsmann, Rangnick — a queue of decorated club managers tried the international game at this World Cup and largely came up short. The rhythm is completely different. Eight matches, weeks between games, squads you can't mould the same way. The managers who thrive internationally tend to be the ones who have spent years understanding that.
Southgate, 55, spent nearly eight years doing exactly that with England. Love him or not, that experience has genuine market value — and with the USA now essentially guaranteed a World Cup spot every four years thanks to the expanded 48-team format, the 2030 tournament is the real target. Plenty of time to build.
Pochettino's exit door and Tuchel's survival
Pochettino hasn't confirmed he's leaving. After the Belgium defeat, he was deliberately non-committal: "Now is not a moment to talk about that. I'm sure in the next weeks we can start to talk if U.S. Soccer wants to talk." That's the language of a man who knows the conversation is coming.
His contract expires this summer, and links to both a Premier League return and AC Milan — a job since filled — haven't helped the sense that his US chapter is closing. If he goes, whoever inherits the role gets a talented but inconsistent squad and four years to figure it out before a home World Cup.
Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel keeps his job in England despite the defeat to Argentina and the criticism that followed some of his in-game decisions. The FA and chief executive Mark Bullingham are standing by him, and with a contract running through Euro 2028, he's not going anywhere. Whether that's reassuring or concerning probably depends on what you thought of England's semi-final performance.
Southgate watching all of this from the outside, suddenly in demand — there's something very football about that.
