Team USA has mixed results with new coach as 2026 World Cup looms

U.S. men's national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has been on the job since August 2024

and it's been an up and down showing thus far. That's not a total surprise

as the players adjust to a new style and the staff tinkers with the roster and lineups

The issue is there are only 367 days until the World Cup kicks off in North America

with the U.S. as one of the host nations. Will the boys in red, white, and blue be ready

It's hard to tell. Saturday, without many of their biggest stars, they lost 2-1 in a friendly with Turquie

It was a tight match. The U.S. scored first, but then were overpowered by the 27th ranked team in the world

surrendering two goals in a three-minute span. Despite the loss, Pochettino was pleased by what he saw

The team showed great energy, great mentality, great attitude. And then it's this type of game that maybe if you made a mistake, you can lose

but made a mistake because it's soccer, it's football. That is why I am so, so happy

Without star players like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKinney, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna and Anthony Robinson

all either recovering from their European seasons or playing in the Club World Cup next week young comers got some playing time Malik Tillman and Chris Richards stood out for their performances and they get another

shot next week during the first stage matches of the gold cup. I think we want to win and compete

really well in the world cup and it's going to be tough. Of course, it's going to be tough

But I think what we expect is what we saw. And then we need to have the capacity to continue giving tools to the player to be better and better and better

Soccer pundits and fans online say Saturday's loss was one of the best performances in the short Pochettino era

They demonstrated a clear desire to execute his strategy. However, it was still Team USA's third straight loss, which hasn't happened since 2015

Under Pochettino, they have a 5-4 record, and the clock is ticking with somewhere in the neighborhood of six to eight matches left before the World Cup

You want to judge their progress with your own eyes? The U.S. men's national team kicks off a friendly against Switzerland Tuesday, 8 p.m. Eastern in Nashville

The Swiss will pose another tough test. They're ranked 20th in the world

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis