With Mauricio Pochettino Set For Man United, Who Becomes The USA's Next Coach?

Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure as coach of the USA’s men’s soccer team is over.

Whatever happens when the U.S. takes on Haiti on Saturday and again on Tuesday in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals, the 54-year-old Argentine — who led the Stars and Stripes to the round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup — is set to become the new manager of Manchester United after the Red Devils finally, officially parted ways with Micheal Carrick on Thursday.

Whether Poch is on the sidelines for the Americans in these next two games, which was the plan before the Carrick news dropped, doesn’t really matter.

With Nations League and Gold Cup trophies to play for next year and qualifying matches for the 2030 World Cup beginning after that, U.S. Soccer needs to hire a replacement soon. That process is probably already underway.  Here’s a not-so-short list of possibilities.

Pep Guardiola

Arguably the best coach in soccer history, Pep is every team’s dream candidate. Crucially, the 55-year-old Spaniard has been unattached since leaving Manchester City last spring after 10 trophy-laden seasons. Is he actually available? Guardiola has said that he’ll never manage another club after wildly successful runs at City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, and he might not want to jump into international management so soon; in July, he turned down four-time World Cup champions Italy. 

He’s long had an affinity for America, however, having lived in New York in 2012-13 between club jobs. A source who claims to have knowledge of Guardiola's thinking told me that the England and the U.S. jobs are particularly enticing to him.  

"The USA is fascinating to try to build a project for many years and being able to get the national team to the next step," Guardiola said shortly after U.S. Soccer appointed Pochettino. "The potential with the USA is there."

Pellegrino Matarazzo

The best American coach working today, the New Jersey native, Ivy League-educated 48-year-old, was in the conversation before Pochettino was hired in 2024. Two years later he’s considered a rising star in Europe after leading Real Sociedad to the Copa del Rey title over Atlético Madrid in May. Matarazzo, who has also managed Bundesliga sides Hoffenheim and Stuttgart.

Roberto Martinez

The classy Martinez, 53, resigned as Portugal’s coach after a 1-0, stoppage-time loss to his native Spain — the eventual 2026 FIFA World Cup champions — in the round of 16. Last year, he beat La Roja in the UEFA Nations League final — just the third international title Portugal as ever won. Highly experienced at the international level, he previously led Belgium to third place at the 2018 World Cup, the highest finish in that country’s history. He also has experience working for Americans, having emerged as a star analyst during ESPN’s coverage of the 2014 World Cup.

Steve Cherundolo

Named coach of the 2028 U.S. men’s Olympic team — aka the under 23s — last summer, Cherundolo is clearly overqualified for that job. An assistant with two Bundesliga teams before taking over LAFC, he won the 2022 MLS Cup in his first full season with the club and qualified them for last year’s FIFA Club World Cup before stepping down at the end of 2025. If the Olympic gig goes well, the 47-year-old from San Diego will be the front-runner to take the top job in 2030. 

B.J. Callaghan

Fresh off winning the MLS Supporters Shield and setting a new single-season points record with Nashville SC, Callaghan’s stock could rise higher if he leads the club to the championship in December. Callaghan also won the 2025 U.S. Open Cup with Nashville, plus a Concacaf Nations League title as the USA’s interim coach in 2023, keeping clean sheets against rivals Mexico and Canada before hoisting the trophy.  If you include the World Cup group stage wins over Paraguay and Australia (under Pochettino), it was perhaps the squad’s best two-game stretch of the entire 2026 cycle.

Rudi Garcia

Another Spaniard, Garcia parted ways with Belgium after having led the Red Devils to the World Cup quarterfinals, where they lost 2-1 to La Roja — the only team to score on Spain during their eight-match march to the title. The 62-year-old badly exposed Pochettino’s shortcomings in the round of 16, changing personnel and tactics that the highly paid Argentine had no answers for on the way to the Americans worst knockout stage loss in nearly a century. 

Thierry Henry

The former World Cup-winning striker and global icon became a household name in America this summer as part of FOX Sports’ lead studio team. He's one of soccer’s top analysts but also has been a coach, having led Les Bleus to an Olympic silver medal at the 2024 Paris Games. Before that, Henry managed perennial Champions League participants Monaco as well as a stint with Montreal in MLS. He was also an assistant under then-Belgium boss Roberto Martinez at the 2018 World Cup, a role he could reprise if Martinez succeeds Poch. Henry has deep ties to the U.S. beyond his TV work, having spent the final five seasons of his legendary playing career with the New York Red Bulls.

Hervé Renard

If international experience is high on U.S. Soccer’s list of preferred qualifications, the dapper 57-year-old Frenchman has plenty of it. He led Saudi Arabia to a historic upset of Argentina in the 2022 World Cup, the only country to beat Lionel Messi & Co. on their way to glory in Qatar. He qualified the Saudis for 2026 and coached Tunisia for 18 days at the main event. Previously, Renard led Morocco, Angola and Zambia, as well as Ligue 1 sides Sochaux and Lille. He’s currently in his second stint with the Ivory Coast.

Brian Schmetzer

Easily the longest-tenured boss in MLS, the beloved, bespectacled 63-year-old has, in his decade at the helm of the Seattle Sounders, won two MLS Cups, a Leagues Cup and a CONCACAF crown — the only American club to claim regional supremacy in the last quarter-century. That’s a record no active American coach can match. 

Bob Bradley

There’s no question the elder Bradley is qualified; since being fired as U.S. coach in 2011, just a year after topping a World Cup that included England, he’s coached Egypt’s national team, clubs in France and Norway and in the Premier League. He also won the MLS Supporter’s Shield with LAFC in 2019, but the 68-year-old hasn’t coached since leaving Norwegian club Stabæk two years ago.

Michael Bradley

The former USMNT captain and midfield legend (and son of Bob) just finished his first full season on an MLS sideline with Red Bull New York. Just 39, Bradley already has a trophy under his belt; he led the Red Bulls reserves to the MLS Next Pro title in 2025 before being promoted to the varsity, though he missed the playoffs in his maiden top flight campaign.

Jesse Marsch

Though Marsch is the only American to have coached in the Premier League, Champions League, Bundesliga and MLS, he’s under contract with Canada — who he led to the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cuo — through 2030. A finalist for the U.S. job in 2023, Marsch has been highly critical of the federation’s leadership, making any return under the current administration unlikely. In any case, Marsch insists that he’ll "never" become the USA’s coach.