The U.S. men’s national team performance in the CONCACAF Nations League was uninspiring, hard to watch, and downright pathetic as the American side began the international break with a loss to Panama followed by a loss to Canada.
Panama stole the match against the U.S. with a 94th-minute winner in the 1-0 contest on March 20. That put the Americans in a third-place match against Canada on Sunday at SoFi Stadium. It was an opportunity for the USMNT to get the very bad taste out of its mouth and salvage something in the tournament, but instead, fell 2-1 with only two shots on goal while controlling 60% of the possession.
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Back-to-back losses on home soil to Panama and Canada to not place in the CONCACAF Nations is bad enough in the early stages of the Mauricio Pochetino era. To put it into an even uglier perspective, Pochettino’s predecessor and maybe the most-hated person in the history of U.S. soccer, Gregg Berhalter, never lost a Nations League match.
Mexico defeating Panama to win the Nations League was just more salt in the open wound that is the UNSMNT at the moment.
This USMNT squad features more recognizable names and a few legitimate stars headlined by Christian Pulisic, but as former U.S. soccer star Landon Donovan pointed out on X, star power doesn’t equal success.
With the 2026 World Cup fast approaching, one that will be held in North America and mostly in the United States, the USMNT has never stared down a bigger opportunity to make noise and grow the game in its own country.
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Now, nobody in the world will remember a failed run in the CONCACAF Nations if the USMNT does show real life in 2026, but right now this squad looks like one without a pulse at all.
Pochettino is 5-3-0 to begin his USMNT tenure. More time is needed for a culture and style to be established, but the start of his managerial journey in the U.S. with this ‘generational’ group of players has been worse than anyone could have predicted thus far.
