Less than 100 days to go for the FIFA World Cup, and the fans are gearing up for the big tournament. Former USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter has now added to the hype, saying the home side has a key advantage this summer.
Gregg Berhalter Loves Mauricio Pochettino’s FIFA World Cup Comments
The United States, Mexico, and Canada are hosting the FIFA World Cup this summer, but home advantage is not something Berhalter is concerned about. He admitted that the fans can play their part, but named another factor as the key to their success.
Speaking to the media ahead of the Chicago Fire’s clash with the Columbus Crew in the MLS this week, the Fire boss said he loved Mauricio Pochettino’s comments about the USMNT going all out to win the FIFA World Cup. He believes that it is the right mindset for the players and the manager to have ahead of the tournament.
Berhalter added that the key factor in favor of the current group of players is their experience of playing in the FIFA World Cup 2022. He believes that the majority of the previous squad will be in the final side picked by Pochettino this summer, and that would help them go deep into the tournament.
“I love it. I mean, that’s the mentality we need, right? We go into any tournament, and you believe you can win. And I think that’s the most important thing for the mindset of any group entering a tournament. The group has had World Cup experience, the majority of that group. So they understand what a World Cup is like. We’ll have the home fans behind us, and I think it’s a great mindset to go into the World Cup with.”
The USMNT had reached the Round of 16 in the 2022 edition, where they were knocked out by the Netherlands. Their best finish remains third from the 1930 edition, but they have managed to make the quarterfinals just once since.
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Despite the odds being against them, Pochettino claimed on “The High Performance” podcast that the USMNT can win the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He revealed that a similar conversation was held with US President Donald Trump and said:
“When we accepted the challenge to go there, it was because we really believe that we can win it. After a year and a half working there, people start to feel that we can win. The last few camps in October and November… we competed against very good teams and we started to show that possibility to perform well.”
Pochettino is expected to name his World Cup squad soon, but call-ups for the friendlies against Portugal and Belgium later this month should give the fans a good idea of who will be going this summer.
