{"id":89206,"date":"2026-06-30T20:30:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T00:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/us-coach-pochettino-pushes-back-on-favorites-label-ahead-of-bosnia-world-cup-clash\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T20:30:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T00:30:44","slug":"us-coach-pochettino-pushes-back-on-favorites-label-ahead-of-bosnia-world-cup-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/us-coach-pochettino-pushes-back-on-favorites-label-ahead-of-bosnia-world-cup-clash\/","title":{"rendered":"US Coach Pochettino Pushes Back on Favorites Label Ahead of Bosnia World Cup Clash"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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SANTA CLARA, California \u2014 US men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino isn’t buying into the favorites label ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup round-of-32 showdown against Bosnia, pointing to a string of stunning upsets that have rocked the tournament.<\/p>

Germany was knocked out in a penalty shootout by Paraguay on Monday, and Morocco sent the Netherlands home the same way. Those results have Pochettino on guard as the co-host nation prepares for its knockout stage opener.<\/p>

“First of all I don’t believe that we are the favourite team because \u2026 the last few days (we have seen) how difficult it is for everyone,” Pochettino said Tuesday at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.<\/p>

“I think favourite is (something) to talk (about) after, no? Everyone said the favourite is Germany but Paraguay beat (them) and Morocco against Netherlands,” he added. “In this World Cup, there are many things, factors that can influence the performance. We need to be careful when we say, OK, one is favourite (over) another.”<\/p>

The Americans arrived at the knockout round in strong form, winning their first two group stage contests against Paraguay and Australia to claim the top spot in Group D. Bosnia, by contrast, finished third in their group.<\/p>

Star forward Christian Pulisic has declared himself ready to start after coming off the bench during the 3-2 loss to Turkey. However, Pochettino indicated that center back Mark McKenzie is unlikely to play due to an ongoing foot injury.<\/p>

There was more encouraging news regarding left back Auston Trusty, who had to be carried off on a stretcher late in the Turkey match after rolling his ankle.<\/p>

“Auston is much better than we expected. We’ll make one final assessment but hopefully he’ll be available on the bench,” Pochettino said.<\/p>

The winner of Wednesday’s match will advance to face either Senegal or Belgium, who play each other earlier in the day.<\/p>

Pochettino stressed that his team must treat the Bosnia game with the same urgency as a championship match and give their opponents the respect they deserve.<\/p>

“They deserve that respect,” he said. “You can see that they have quality, not only that they are aggressive and have good organization. They have players with quality and a coach that provides the platform to perform. That is a good thing. That is why, for us, this is the final of the World Cup tomorrow.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino is urging caution about labeling his squad as favorites heading into their World Cup round-of-32 matchup against Bosnia. Recent upsets, including Germany’s penalty shootout loss to Paraguay and Morocco’s elimination of the Netherlands, have the coach on high alert. The US topped Group D with wins over Paraguay and Australia, while Bosnia advanced as a third-place finisher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":89205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1782865844023.jpg?fit=450%2C287&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-ncO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":87634,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/pochettino-turns-skeptics-into-believers-as-usmnt-advances-in-world-cup\/","url_meta":{"origin":89206,"position":0},"title":"Pochettino Turns Skeptics Into Believers as USMNT Advances in World Cup","author":"Admin","date":"June 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"U.S. men's soccer coach Mauricio Pochettino came in as the biggest hire in the program's history, but the road wasn't always smooth. Now, with the team winning Group D and advancing to the knockout stage, the players have fully bought in. The Americans face Bosnia and Herzegovina next in Santa\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":80889,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/pochettino-chooses-freese-over-turner-for-us-world-cup-opener-against-paraguay\/","url_meta":{"origin":89206,"position":1},"title":"Pochettino Chooses Freese Over Turner for US World Cup Opener Against Paraguay","author":"Admin","date":"June 12, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino has named Matt Freese as starting goalkeeper over Matt Turner for Friday's World Cup match against Paraguay in Los Angeles. The game represents the first World Cup match held in the United States under the new 48-team format.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781313730440.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":80337,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/us-soccer-coach-warns-paraguay-will-be-tough-world-cup-opener\/","url_meta":{"origin":89206,"position":2},"title":"US Soccer Coach Warns Paraguay Will Be Tough World Cup Opener","author":"Admin","date":"June 11, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"United States soccer coach Mauricio Pochettino cautioned that Friday's World Cup opener against Paraguay will be extremely challenging, despite the Americans being favored as hosts. The match kicks off at Los Angeles Stadium as the US begins their home World Cup campaign in Group D.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781224611536.jpg?fit=450%2C287&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":80937,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/us-mens-soccer-dominates-paraguay-4-1-in-world-cup-opener-under-pochettino\/","url_meta":{"origin":89206,"position":3},"title":"US Men’s Soccer Dominates Paraguay 4-1 in World Cup Opener Under Pochettino","author":"Admin","date":"June 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The United States men's national soccer team delivered a commanding 4-1 victory over Paraguay in their World Cup group stage opener in California. Coach Mauricio Pochettino's attacking strategy was on full display as multiple players contributed to an offensive showcase that overwhelmed their South American opponents.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781324512407.jpg?fit=450%2C307&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":80953,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/us-soccer-coach-credits-team-unity-for-historic-4-1-world-cup-win-over-paraguay\/","url_meta":{"origin":89206,"position":4},"title":"US Soccer Coach Credits Team Unity for Historic 4-1 World Cup Win Over Paraguay","author":"Admin","date":"June 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Coach Mauricio Pochettino emphasized collective effort over individual performances following the United States' commanding 4-1 World Cup opening victory against Paraguay. 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This marks America's first time hosting the tournament in over three decades, with the team led by midfielder Christian Pulisic and coached by Mauricio Pochettino.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781311038277.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781311038277.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781311038277.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781311038277.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}