Can the host trio USA, Canada and Mexico reach FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16?

The million-dollar question that the high-profile coach, Mauricio Pochettino, is bombarded with almost every day is the progress he can accomplish with the USA team, the main host of the 48-team FIFA World Cup, along with Canada and Mexico.

The Argentine has been a hit with Club teams in the EPL and Europe, but for the first time, he will be at the touchline of a team in search of glory in the global competition. Of course, Pochettino took charge of the team for some twenty-two months and has already started giving structure to the team.

Not one to compromise on the fitness of the players, he has brought in thirteen new faces on the premise of talent and potential and for tactical deployment - the other thirteen being the old guard.

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The pundits are not bold and brave enough to predict that the three host teams have the potential to make an impressive run in the group stages and knock out and go the distance. But football managers are a terrific breed; their ideas, from naming the starting line-up, making changes during the 90-minute run of play, and extra time and picking the players for penalties and their overall deportment, always reflect remarkable affection for their team in action.

Secondly, for the Managers, the emotional connect with their teams is high on intensity, and if even he fancies his home country Argentina to win back to back titles, the 54-year-old Pochettino is on an overdrive to mentor his team, which is the USA, to compete with the best in the world and win the hearts of the Americans who have not yet warmed up to their national team.

The USA team would like to see a drastic change in the attitude of the American sports lovers who align with their favourite teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) League, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and the National Football League, which is actually played with gridiron football with pointed ends.

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Major League Soccer has brought about a perceptible change with the legendary Lionel Messi turning out for Inter Miami. The MLS now draws attendance to make it the third biggest league after the NFL and MLB. The USA team, with a highly rated Manager in Pochettino, wants the Americans to fill up the stadiums when real action takes place at Los Angeles (against Paraguay and Turkey) and Seattle (against Australia).

Pochettino has built a splendid record as Manager throwing up ideas at the dugouts while changing the fortunes of Espanyol (La Liga), Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur (EPL), Paris Saint-Germain (France) and Chelsea (EPL) - all over a productive period of 17 years.

As a right footer, he was part of Espanyol in two phases, Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux for eleven years, scoring eighteen goals. He also played three matches for the Albiceleste in the 2002 World Cup against Nigeria, Sweden and England. The focus will be trained on him, starting with the FIFA friendly against Senegal and Germany before the USA's World Cup match against Paraguay.

The USA, aka "Stars and Stripes", gave him the opportunity to manage a national team, which, too, at the biggest stage, appealed to him in September 2024. So far, Pochettino has seen his team win fourteen matches, lose nine and even-Stevens in two. The three defeats against Portugal (2-0) and Belgium. (5-2) and Switzerland (4-0), leading to the World Cup campaign, ought to have hurt the team's confidence. There was improvement seen, though, when his team beat Uruguay 5-1, Japan 2-0, and also scored good wins in other friendlies.

Pochettino has seasoned campaigners like Christian Pulisic (68 matches with one World Cup), Tyler Adams (45 matches with one World Cup), Weston McKennie (45 matches with one World Cup ), Timothy Weah (39 matches with one World Cup), Folarin Balogun (19 FIFA friendlies) and the New York City goalkeeper Matt Freese with 14 matches of international experience. Thirteen players from the Doha 2022 World Cup have been retained by the new Manager.

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Canada

After qualifying for two World Cups in 1986 (Mexico) and 2022 (Doha, Qatar), Canada is in search of its first win in FIFA's most popular event for the fans. Canada lost to the Soviet Union, France and Hungary without scoring a goal and in Doha, it lost to Morocco, Croatia and Belgium, but found the back of the net once each against Morocco and Croatia.

Any coach or Manager of a team would like to improve upon the previous results, and Canada's 53-year-old American coach Jesse Marsch is hoping to work wonders. Recently, Canada Soccer extended his tenure till the 2030 World Cup in order to maintain continuity. And that is because Marsch marshalled his wards to a semi- final finish in the Copa America and took the country's FIFA ranking to a high of 26 in the last quarter of 2025.

Canada has played 29 matches under Marsch's work in the backroom and dugout. Though not spectacular, Canada Soccer views the 12 wins, 5 losses and 12 draws and scoring 37 goals and conceding 23 as encouraging in the high-intense level of world soccer.

Canada's defender Richie Laryea has expressed confidence in the results achieved by Marsch. He said, " I think since he’s come on, you’ve seen our program go to a new level, which is really important. I think he’s elevated the group. You’ve seen guys get very good moves to Europe, even around MLS, as well, and the play of guys has been, I think, the best I’ve ever seen. It’s really important for our first team, the national team, but I think really important as well for the kids coming through. He is always looking at kids and making sure that they’re also up to date with what the first team is doing. So I think for the whole pipeline at Canada Soccer, it’s a very good thing that he’s extended.”

The Maple Leaf country will play Uzbekistan and Ireland in friendlies before getting into serious business against Bosnia & Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland. Canada has not played Bosnia & Herzegovina, has beaten Qatar in a friendly in Vienna before the 2022 World Cup and beat Switzerland 3-1 in a friendly some 22 years ago.

The task is cut out for Marsch, whose first aim will be to start well against the Bosnian side. A number of players have the experience of leagues in Europe, which includes the Juventus forward Jonathan David and Bayern Munich midfielder Alphonso Davies.

With a team that has shaped well in the last two years and with notable wins against South American teams, Marsch is likely to deliver better results in June. He has been flexible in formations and tactics, ready to change in the course of a match. (Squad to be announced on May 29).

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Mexico

Mexico, known by the nickname 'El Tri', has given its fans trophy wins to cheer by winning the CONCACAF Nations Cup and the Gold Cup, both under the mentorship of the 67-year-old Javier Aguirre, who was appointed Manager of the third time in 25 years. After exiting from the group stage in Doha four years ago, Mexico has played 27 internationals under Aguirre, won 15, drawn 8 and lost four.

Also a regular at the World Cup final that it has entered 16 occasions - twice quarter-finalists and eight times in the Round of 16, Mexico will take advantage of the home conditions at the 87000 capacity Azteca Stadium, on which a hybrid grass pitch has been laid.

Mexico will play two group matches against South Africa and the Czech Republic at this venue and the second match at Guadalajara. Mexico has never beaten South Africa - losing and forcing a draw in one - but has got the better of South Korea, winning four, losing three and forcing a draw in two matches. But in nine meetings, Mexico has recorded 4-0,3-2 and 3-2 wins.

The crowd would root for the home team, a big boost to Aguirre's team, which looks set to advance to the second stage. Mexico will play Australia and Serbia in warm-up friendlies before its opening Cup campaign against South Africa. In the last two friendlies against Ghana and Belgium, the team started deploying a 3-3-4 format (against Ghana) and a 1-4-1-4 against Belgium. It won 2-0 against Ghana and drew1-1 against Belgium. Mexico will announce its squad on June 1.

USA provisional squad:

Goalkeepers: Chris Brady, Matt Freese, Matt Turner.

Defenders: Max Arfsten, Sergiño Dest, Alex Freeman, Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson, Joe Scally, Auston Trusty.

Midfielders: Tyler Adams, Sebastian Berhalter, Weston McKennie, Cristian Roldan.

Attacking midfielders/wingers: Brenden Aaronson, Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Malik Tillman, Tim Weah, Alejandro Zendejas.

Strikers: Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright.