The US men’s national team ’s increasingly uneasy journey to the 2026 FIFA World Cup hit another rut on Saturday, with a 2-0 friendly loss to South Korea that presents more troubling questions for Mauricio Pochettino & Co.

The Yanks have now lost five straight games, and by a combined 11-1 margin, against opponents in the top 25 of the FIFA World Rankings, and border rivals Mexico are the only such side they’ve defeated since the 2022 World Cup. The USMNT's 2025 record is now a bland 6W-6L-1D, and 9W-6L-1D under Pochettino.

Yet the Argentine head coach struck a defiantly optimistic tone postgame. He pointed to the effects of roster turnover that seems self-imposed, as he continues to evaluate talent with that massive tournament looming just months away, and posited that the program

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