A NEW ERA
Mauricio Pochettino and his staff entered the first four-game window of the 2030 FIFA World Cup cycle with a clear priority: focus on the process rather than the result. The results followed anyway, as the U.S. finished the fall window with a perfect 4W-0L-0D, including victories over Concacaf rivals Mexico and Canada.
Along the way, the U.S. set a series of milestones that established the tone at the start of the new Pochettino era. A perfect record, 12 goals from seven different scorers, 13 debuts, the fastest debut goal of the modern era and the youngest goalscorer in program history all arrived in one window, capped by a statement shutout of 10th-ranked Mexico. The message is clear: the U.S. pool is a deeper, increasingly fearless group that embraces opportunity and is building to compete at the highest level.
“The behavior of the players, the energy of the players, their mentality and commitment are amazing.” Pochettino said. “That is why I want to congratulate the players and the staff in the way it lasted during a nearly three-week window for the first time. We built that journey together. It was an amazing thing."
With the U-17 and U-20 World Cups as well as the 2028 Summer Olympics on the horizon, Pochettino and his coaching staff provided the young players a major opportunity to gain experience at representing their country at the international level. The 13 previously uncapped players each made an appearance and accounted for 1,396 minutes in total.
The new cycle opened Sept. 26 with a 4-1 win against Peru that featured 11 debutants and two players returning to the USMNT setup for the first time since 2025. Three days later, the U.S. followed with a second straight four-goal performance, a 4-2 win against Chile. The lineup against Chile was the youngest of Pochettino’s tenure and the youngest XI since Jan. 25, 2023, vs. Serbia.
The “Duel in the Desert” came next, and the U.S. shut out 10th-ranked Mexico 3-0 in a match in which several records fell. It was the USMNT’s first win against a FIFA top-10 opponent since Nov. 12, 2021, when it beat then-ninth-ranked Mexico 2-0 in Cincinnati.
The window closed with a second straight clean sheet, this time a 1-0 win against Canada. The fourth-consecutive victory matched the team’s longest win streak since 2024-25, when it ended 2024 by beating Jamaica twice and opened 2025 with wins against Venezuela and Costa Rica.
MAJOR LEAGUE SCORERS
The U.S. scored 12 goals in four games, its most over a four-match span since 2023 when it scored 12 against Oman, Germany, Ghana, and Trinidad and Tobago. Seven different players found the back of the net:
- Peru (4-1): Ellis and Hall became the first players to score on their USMNT debuts since Patrick Agyemang and Matko Miljevic on Jan. 18, 2025. Ellis’ fourth-minute goal was the fastest by a debutant in the modern era.
- Chile (4-2): Mathis Albert, Berhalter, Hall and Chris Richards scored, giving the U.S. back-to-back four-goal games with four different scorers. At 17 years, 131 days, Albert became the youngest goalscorer in USMNT history.
- Mexico (3-0): Hall, Cavan Sullivan and Malik Tillman scored. It was the USMNT’s second-largest margin of victory against Mexico, last matched in a 3-0 win in the 2023 Concacaf Nations League semifinal. Sullivan scored at 17 years and five days to break Albert’s record set four days earlier.
- Canada (1-0): The window ended the way it began, with a first-half goal from Ellis.
VETERANS LEAD BY EXAMPLE
The new generation was supported by 13 returning members of the FIFA World Cup 2026 squad, along with two previously capped players.
- Tyler Adams was named USMNT captain by Pochettino and wore the armband twice during the window, his first time as captain since the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
- Alex Freeman earned his 25th consecutive cap after starting against Canada, dating back to the 5-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago on June 15, 2025.
- Yunus Musah earned his 50th cap in the 1-0 shutout against Canada.
- Adams and Antonee Robinson each earned their 60th cap against Chile, and Robinson captained the team for the first time.
- Berhalter recorded a goal and an assist in back-to-back games against Peru and Chile, the first USMNT player to do so since Landon Donovan in 2013 and the youngest to do it.
- Tillman scored his fourth goal of the year against Mexico, joint-highest by a USMNT player in 2026.
“The senior players deserve massive credit in the way that they treat, guide, support, welcome, create an environment [that’s] very comfortable for them to feel like home,” Pochettino said. “I see this massive, massive value for us to have these senior players helping in this way.”
FRESH FACES
All 28 players on the roster earned at least one cap during the window. The 13 previously uncapped players each made an appearance: Mathis Albert, Cole Campbell, Justin Ellis, Zavier Gozo, Julian Hall, Diego Kochen, Adri Mehmeti, Peyton Miller, Neil Pierre, Brooklyn Raines, Brian Schwake, Cavan Sullivan and Frankie Westfield. Together they played 1,396 minutes.
- Seven of the 12 goals came from previously uncapped players: Albert, Ellis (2), Hall (3) and Sullivan.
- Both uncapped goalkeepers kept a clean sheet in their first start, Kochen against Mexico and Schwake against Canada.
- Three of the 10 youngest goalscorers in USMNT history scored for the first time this window: Albert, Hall and Sullivan.
TAKE ME TO MLS HOMES
One of the significant achievements in soccer the United States for the last 25 years has been the development of world-class stadiums across MLS. They have also become ‘homes’ for the U.S. National teams, and this fall window reflected it. Three of the four USMNT wins came at MLS soccer-specific stadiums. Coincidentally, the USMNT continues to hold perfect scores in all three venues, with an unblemished 7-0-0 record in Orlando and matching 4-0-0 records in St. Louis and St. Paul. The USMNT will appear at another soccer-specific stadium for the Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinal, as the team will host Haiti at FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium, where - you guessed it – the team has never lost, going 2W-0L-2D including yet another Dos a Cero against Mexico in World Cup Qualifying.
