U.S. Men's National Team coach Mauricio Pochettino has urged his players to approach Wednesday's last-32 World Cup match against Bosnia and Herzegovina with the same intensity as a final, warning that complacency could lead to an early exit.
The USMNT secured their place in the knockout rounds by topping Group D with victories over Paraguay and Australia. They enter the match near San Francisco as strong favorites against a Bosnia and Herzegovina side ranked 46 places lower in the world rankings, with ticket prices on resale sites reflecting the expectation.
However, Pochettino pointed to recent upsets in the tournament, including Paraguay's victory over Germany and Brazil's narrow win against Japan, as reasons to be cautious. He emphasized that no game after the group stage is easy and that failure to perform mentally could be costly.
"This is the final of the World Cup," Pochettino stated. "If we don't think in this way, I think we are going to struggle. We don't have another opportunity if we fail."
Pochettino dismissed the notion that the United States are outright favorites, acknowledging the surprise results that have occurred. He stressed the importance of respecting their opponent and performing at their best to advance.
"Everyone says the favorite is Germany, but Paraguay beat [them]... Brazil and Japan, how difficult it was. In this World Cup... we need to be careful when we say one is favorite and another not," he said. "I understand that maybe because we are USA and we host the World Cup. We are here and maybe we have the fans on our side, but I think we have full respect for [Bosnia and Herzegovina]... if we want to win and go to the next stage, we need to perform in our best."
The coach also cautioned his players against getting carried away by the public's reaction to their performances, urging them to maintain their focus and approach.
"Because we won two games, and people maybe were surprised about our performance, now we are a 'big star.' I think that is the most important - not to be confused and approach the competition the same way," Pochettino explained. "A game like tomorrow is 90 percent, maybe 85 percent emotional. If we can reduce that and put in 70 or 60 or 50 percent, if we reduce the emotional and more about the play and... put the emotional side at the end of the game, I think it's much better."
Bosnia and Herzegovina advanced from Group B, securing their knockout stage spot after a draw with Canada, a loss to Switzerland, and a win against Qatar. The USMNT concluded their group stage with a loss to Turkey, which marked their tenth consecutive defeat against European opposition dating back to the 2022 World Cup. Pochettino views the upcoming match as an opportunity to challenge that historical trend.
"Tomorrow we have a good opportunity to fight against the history. We have another challenge," he said.
