What attracted Mauricio Pochettino to the United States men’s national team job? It wasn’t their Copa America performances this summer. He may be compelled by the idea of guiding a redemption story on the biggest stage as the U.S. counts down to co-hosting the 2026 World Cup, or perhaps he was intrigued by a core of players that’s at least showing surface-level progress abroad.
With the rumored hiring of Mauricio Pochettino reportedly imminent, the United States men’s national team has seemingly acquired the big-name manager so much of the fan base was demanding. But with a national team, the first order of business isn’t a shopping spree as it can be with a club. That contrast is particularly apparent when considering a manager whose last employer was Chelsea, a club that jumps on a transfer like Cristiano Ronaldo claims a free kick.
Pochettino’s 191 wins in league play in the top five European leagues since his first match with Southampton in 2013 through the end of last season ranks eighth among all coaches in that time. While it would be jumping the gun to speculate on how he’ll piece together his next squad and debate its quality so soon after a massive Copa America disappointment for the U.S. under Gregg Berhalter, Pochettino is inheriting a team that continues to expand its footprint in those leagues.
With the club season underway, let’s check in on the state of Pochettino’s talent pool abroad purely from the perspective of group and individual milestones they either achieved in 2023-24 or could reach in 2024-25. The good news for USMNT fans is that the high-level numbers seem to be going in the right direction.
Quantity and Quality
It starts with getting on the pitch against quality competition. Within the top five European leagues, U.S. internationals made more appearances last season than in any other in modern history.
A record 10 different Americans played at least 30 matches in the top five European leagues last season, with Fulham’s Antonee Robinson (37) and Milan’s Christian Pulisic (36) recording the most appearances. In fact, Robinson’s 3,269 minutes were the most by any American in a single season in the top five European leagues in a decade.
Once on the pitch, a level of individual quality against that top level competition is a nice next step, and goals are a decent enough foundation for measuring that at a high level. U.S. internationals also scored more goals last season than any other in modern history.
Christian Pulisic scored 12 times for Milan in Serie A last season, a single-season career best for him with Clint Dempsey (17 in 2011-12) and Folarin Balogun (21 in 2022-23) the only Americans to score more in a single season in the top five European leagues over the last 30 years.
Pulisic also led Americans with 0.41 goals per 90 minutes, his third season averaging at least 0.40 goals per 90 (0.47 in 2019-20, 0.42 in 2021-22). Since 1992-93, American players have recorded 0.40 goals per 90 minutes in a season in the top five European leagues six times with Pulisic recording half of those (min. 1,000 minutes played in season).
The Captain
No matter the coach, there may be no more important American player than Pulisic, who has a chance to become the USMNT’s top career scorer across the five major European leagues dating back to 1985 this year.
Despite turning just 26 next month, Pulisic has already racked up over 13,000 minutes in 225 career appearances in the top five leagues, with those 225 appearances ranking fifth among all outfield U.S. players in those leagues since 1992-93.
In fact, with just 25 more league appearances and four more games for the USMNT, Pulisic would become the second American outfield player to play 250 games in the top five European Leagues and 75 games for the United States (Steve Cherundolo – 302/87).
A player at Pulisic’s age with as much experience at both club and country is unheard of for an American, but his experience in different leagues at the top levels is also impressive, as he has already played 98 Premier Leagues games with Chelsea to go along with 90 Bundesliga matches with Borussia Dortmund before his 37 Serie A games with Milan.
Should he make 13 more Serie A appearances, Pulisic would become the first American outfield player with 50 appearances in three of the top five European leagues.
Pulisic’s experience goes beyond league play as he’s primed to play in the UEFA Champions League for the ninth successive season. There are few U.S. milestones left for Pulisic there, as he already holds the U.S. marks for games played (54), minutes (3,031), goals (8) and assists (7) in the competition.
To craft a team capable of making a deep run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Pochettino will have to rely on more than just the captain, however, and there are other American players with a lot of experience for their age looking to make a bigger impact across Europe this season.
Others Making an Impact
Pulisic’s Milan teammate Yunus Musah, just 21 years old, has already made 125 league appearances with Valencia and Milan across his time in Spain and Italy. While Musah has received a lot of playing time, he’s yet to figure out how to make a major impact, with just six total goal contributions and an average of 29.2 pass attempts per 90 minutes entering this season. Early signs are promising this year, however, as he made a major impact off the bench in Milan’s two-goal comeback on Saturday.
In France, Folarin Balogun will look to bounce back from a disappointing seven-goal performance in his first season with Monaco last year, just a third of what he managed with Reims in 2022-23. Still, Balogun turned 23 on July 3 and will almost certainly surpass Pulisic as the top American scorer in the top five European leagues over the last 30-plus years among players under 24.
Moving to Germany, Giovanni Reyna’s future is up in the air at Borussia Dortmund after a loan spell at Nottingham Forest last season. At 21 years old, Reyna is another American who has played a lot of minutes at a high level despite his age with his next appearance in one of the top five European leagues being his 100th. Only Christian Pulisic has recorded more goal involvements (41) before turning 22 than Reyna and Balogun (23 each) dating to 2005-06.
Outside the Top Five Leagues
Americans have spread beyond just the top five leagues in Europe, with players making impacts across the continent. Three Americans, Sergiño Dest, Ricardo Pepi and Malik Tillman, have become regulars at PSV, combining for 36 goal contributions to help the club win their first Eredivisie title since 2017-18 last season.
While Dest, who is recuperating from an ACL injury, and Tillman have secured regular starting spots at PSV, Pepi has had to make an impact off the bench playing behind Luuk de Jong, which he did as well as anybody last season. His seven goals as a substitute were the joint most among any player across the top five leagues plus the Eredivisie, Belgian Pro League and Portuguese Primeira Liga.
Since arriving in the Eredivisie in 2022, the 21-year-old Pepi has netted 19 goals, making him the joint-second highest scoring youngster in a division known for producing young goalscorers.
Moving down a tier, a pair of American strikers have been among the top scorers in the EFL Championship over the last season-plus, with Haji Wright’s 18 (16 in 2023-24 and two through two games this season) at Coventry City tied for fifth and Josh Sargent’s 17 at Norwich City tied for seventh. Sargent followed his 13-goal 2022-23 season with 16 more last year, becoming the only American with multiple 10-goal seasons in the division in the last 20 years.
Both Wright (2 goals vs. Oxford United last Friday) and Sargent (a goal vs. Blackburn on Saturday) are off to strong starts in 2024-25 in a wide-open race to secure minutes at striker for the USMNT.
Time is short for Pochettino, who has just 21 months to take a group of players who, individually have been making a growing impact with and against the top clubs in Europe, and mold milestones into a team that can play with the world’s best national teams as World Cup hosts.
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