U.S. Men’s National Team Prepares for Last Match of the Year

TAMPA, Fla. – In Mauricio Pochettino’s press conference Monday afternoon at Waters Sportsplex, the primary training complex of the USL Championship’s Tampa Bay Rowdies, the U.S. Men’s National Team head coach dropped a wise saying:

You don’t change the captain of a ship in the middle of a storm.

The phrase was part of an answer that spoke to the moment when Pochettino felt his team start to take hold of his teachings, the moment the progression began that would eventually lead to the U.S. Men's National Team’s current run of form and visibly growing confidence. Challenging moments along the way during his 13 months so far at the helm, which Pochettino essentially referred to as “reality checks,” were important. You don’t change everything when faced with adversity; you work through it together as a team, use it to grow and aim for clear skies. 

Under Pochettino’s careful steering, the USMNT is coming into its own as the team approaches its final match of the calendar year. With just two international windows remaining until the FIFA 2026 World Cup on American soil, players are gelling and putting on terrific performances against quality opponents. For the first time in 10 years, the U.S. is currently unbeaten in four straight games against FIFA teams ranked in the top 40. All four of those opponents have qualified for next summer’s World Cup, including Paraguay, which the U.S. most recently defeated 2-1 on Nov. 15 in Chester, Pennsylvania. 

In those four consecutive results, the team is also developing a clear identity – one of control, poise, pressing, building from the back, winning duels and taking on defenders fearlessly. Learning who they are and playing well together is incredibly valuable according to midfielder Tanner Tessmann, who earned the start and played a full 90 minutes against Paraguay.

“To be honest, I think it's more about the performance,” he said. “How we play, how we do things is most important.”

Measuring the performance has been an emphasis for the U.S. dating back to the September window when the current streak started with a 2-0 win over Japan in Columbus, Ohio. That belief speaks to the team's focus on themselves and developing a good understanding of its strengths. 

“When you look at the stats, and you look at the duels won, the amount of corners, the possession, how we played the game, that's what matters for us,” Tessmann said.

Results have followed good performances, and the U.S. has achieved four of them in a row. Without the pressure of World Cup Qualifying, which every country other than the three 2026 host nations – United States, Canada and Mexico – has had to go through to secure a place in the World Cup, Pochettino’s squad has created competition themselves at training and in the friendlies leading up to next summer’s tournament.

“As players, you can’t really consider them friendlies because they're opportunities to assert yourself and showcase, again, why we are on the national team,” defender Mark McKenzie said.

One of the most difficult tests arrives Tuesday night at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, a city with a lot of history with the USMNT. Uruguay enters the matchup ranked No. 16 in the FIFA World Ranking, and La Celeste is on an unbeaten streak of its own. Uruguay, led by head coach, longtime soccer legend and Pochettino's hero Marcelo Biesla, finished fourth in the CONMEBOL standings in World Cup Qualifying and hasn’t lost a match since June 5. (That loss was to Paraguay, who the U.S. most recently defeated.)

In some ways, Uruguay is reminiscent of another opponent the U.S. recently matched up against: Ecuador. Back on Oct. 10 in Austin, Texas, the U.S. faced an Ecuadorian side riding a 11-match unbeaten streak after finishing behind only the defending world champions, Argentina, in CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying.

“Uruguay is a very good team,” Orlando City SC fullback Alex Freeman said. “It’s another aggressive game that we’re going to have to come through and be able to show personality. At the end of the day, that’s what Pochettino, the staff and the players want.”

“We’re going into it with the same mentality we approach each game,” McKenzie echoed. “It's not a friendly match, but this is preparation for what's to come.”

Will the USMNT show the same poise they did in that October match that drove them to unflinchingly climb back out of a one-nil hole and draw tough, stingy Ecuador? Will the U.S. show the same intensity and tenacity they did Saturday night to endure a fast, physical Paraguay side?

The answer Tuesday night could very well cement the identity this team has been forming the last few months under Pochettino and set a good course heading into 2026.

“The opponents are going to throw different things at you, but ultimately you want to end on the right note, and that's playing the way that we want to play and doing the things that we need to do,” McKenzie said.