From Guardiola to Matarazzo: Who Will Coach the USMNT Next? And Why England Should Be Watching

The next USMNT head coach is still an open question, and Pep Guardiola’s name is already being whispered inside U.S. Soccer. Four days on from a 4-1 last-16 defeat to Belgium, Mauricio Pochettino’s future remains unresolved. Officially the federation is preaching patience — rest, reflection, no decisions taken in the heat of the moment. Unofficially, the 2030 cycle has already started. England fans should recognise every beat of this story: the FA faced exactly the same fork in the road before appointing Thomas Tuchel, and the debate that followed — global name versus homegrown builder — is the one now playing out in Chicago.

Pochettino: Still in Post, Still Undecided

Mauricio Pochettino has not resigned and U.S. Soccer has not sacked him. That is the honest state of play. The Argentine arrived in 2024 on a deal running through the 2026 tournament, took the hosts out of their group, and lost 4-1 to Belgium in the knockout round. Not a catastrophe, not a triumph — and that ambiguity is precisely why nobody has moved.

The federation’s logic is defensible: don’t decide in the immediate aftermath. But every week of drift has a price. The best available managers do not stay available, and a four-year cycle is built at the first September camp, not in January.

Could Pep Guardiola Really Take a National Team?

Guardiola has never managed a national side and has said more than once that the idea appeals to him late in his career. His Manchester City contract runs to 2027, which lines up neatly with the start of a 2030 cycle. He spends part of the year in the United States and knows the North American market well.

The obstacle isn’t desire, it’s structure. Guardiola coaches players he sees every single day; international football would hand him roughly ten working days a year. Federations that have gambled on a superstar name — Brazil with Carlo Ancelotti, England with Thomas Tuchel — have proved the move is possible. They’ve also proved it’s expensive and guarantees nothing.

Matarazzo and Schmetzer: The American Route

Pellegrino Matarazzo is the name gathering momentum. An American coach schooled in Germany, with spells at Stuttgart and Hoffenheim, he ticks every box for a development project: he speaks the dressing room’s language, he knows the Bundesliga where several US internationals play, and he costs a fraction of a Guardiola.

Brian Schmetzer offers the MLS path — a Seattle Sounders legend, a trophy winner, deeply respected by domestic players. His candidacy appeals to the wing of the federation that believes the USMNT needs an identity, not a marketing signing. That is the internal argument in one sentence: global star or in-house builder.

The England Parallel — and What It Cost

England already ran this experiment. The FA hired Thomas Tuchel, a decorated club coach with no international background, on the theory that elite tactical detail would convert a talented squad into a winning one. The lesson worth exporting to Chicago is that a big name doesn’t remove the underlying problem; it just changes who gets blamed for it.

There’s also a competitive angle. The USMNT that England, or anyone else, meets in 2030 in Spain, Portugal and Morocco will be built around the class of 2005 at full maturity — players already established in the Premier League. Whoever U.S. Soccer appoints this summer decides whether that team presses high and plays through the lines, or sits deep and counters. For Tuchel’s England, those are two completely different opponents.

FAQ