Donald Trump bizarrely claims USA can go “all the way” in World Cup 2026

US president Donald Trump has backed the USMNT to go all the way in the World Cup 2026 with a confident claim to manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Trump sent Pochettino a strong message of encouragement ahead of USA’s 4-1 win over Paraguay last night, with the host nation making a dream start to the tournament.

Co-hosts Mexico also started with a win, beating South Africa 2-0 earlier this week, while the other co-hosts Canada could only draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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The USA will really be the main one of those to watch, with Pochettino up there with the top coaches in the competition this summer, though it still seems a bit of a stretch for Trump to be backing them to go all the way.

Donald Trump’s message to Mauricio Pochettino

As quoted by BBC Sport, Trump told Pochettino ahead of last night’s game: “Well, I just got to say you’re a fantastic guy, a fantastic coach, and you’re all about your record and your success, and I know how great the players are.

“I think you’ve got a really good chance of going all the way. I just want to wish you a lot of luck.”

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Pochettino has previously been highly regarded in football management after doing a superb job at Tottenham, while he also won major trophies at Paris Saint-Germain and had a decent spell in charge of Chelsea.

This will be an interesting new challenge for the Argentine, but there are surely many teams ahead of the US in the running to win this year’s World Cup.

Spain will likely be the favourites, with the likes of France, England, Brazil, and Argentina not far behind.