Pochettino Says U.S. Lacks Top 100 Stars as Best Soccer Player In The World Debate Grows
Mauricio Pochettino said the U.S. men do not have a player in the top 100, even as the debate around the best soccer player in the world keeps circling back to America’s different place on the men’s and women’s sides. He made that point in April, and the contrast is sharper now after the men opened with a 4-1 win over Paraguay.
Pochettino’s April line
At Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Pochettino told reporters, "We are USA" before adding, "We are competing against Belgium, Portugal. I think, for sure, Belgium and Portugal have, in the top 100 players, a few or some players playing in that top 100. I think we don’t have (any)." That was the clearest version of his view: the U.S. men can win games, but they do not yet stack up with the world’s elite player pools.
The coach’s point sits against a broader American record that is hard to ignore. The United States has won four World Cups, including once at home, and five Olympic gold medals. It has also produced a Ballon d’Or winner and has regularly been ranked the best in the world, but those breakthroughs have not translated into the same kind of star depth on the men’s side that Pochettino described.
Women’s side sets the standard
The women’s program offers the cleaner counterpoint. Days before the men’s squad arrived at the tournament, the U.S. women beat Brazil 1-0 in Fortaleza, and the article describes those players as sitting at home because their World Cup comes next summer in Brazil at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Emma Hayes has made her own priorities plain, saying, "My issue and struggle with it is this is just a team game, so I hate the individual awards" and, "I know the individual awards are something that maybe matter to the players, but fundamentally, it’s about the team trophies that I probably care about most. … I don’t read too much into them."
That’s the tension inside the U.S. picture: the women are tied to a group of players who transcend the sport and change culture, while the men are still searching for the same level of recognition. Christian Pulisic is listed as No. 39 on The Athletic’s list of best players in the World Cup, and he is the name that fits closest to the standard Pochettino says the U.S. needs.
Paraguay win changes little
Friday’s 4-1 win over Paraguay gave the men an immediate result to build on, and their odds of advancing from Group D rose to 97 percent after the victory. It did not erase the larger conversation, though. Pochettino’s April assessment still hangs over the roster: the U.S. can move through a tournament, but its men are still being measured against countries he believes have multiple top-100 players and the United States does not.
For readers tracking the 2026 World Cup, that is the practical takeaway. The U.S. men have a favorable path out of the group, but the sharper test comes in whether they can produce more than one player who belongs in the same conversation as the sport’s best. Until that changes, the comparison with the women’s program will keep coming back to the same gap.
