Mauricio Pochettino’s U.S. men’s national team has learned its final matches before the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins.
Belgium and Portugal will oppose the USMNT at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on March 28 and 31 respectively, U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday. The matches will take place against two Top-10 nations with Belgium ranked No. 8 and Portugal ranked No. 6 in FIFA’s latest rankings.
Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium will play host to the USMNT’s penultimate match on May 31 before the World Cup officially begins. An opponent will be announced at a later date.
Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois will host the USMNT’s final pre-World Cup match on June 6 with No. 9-ranked Germany opposing the Americans.
“For us, this is a massive opportunity to challenge ourselves against some of the top teams in the world. These are incredible matches for the players and for the fans,” Pochettino said. “We are so happy to be playing in our new home of Atlanta, and of course to be competing in the great cities of Charlotte and Chicago ahead of the World Cup.”
Portugal, Belgium, and Germany have all automatically qualified for the World Cup.
Led by longtime legend Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal won the UEFA Nations League earlier this year. Their best-ever finish at a World Cup came in 1966 when they finished third.
Belgium’s best-ever World Cup finish came in 2018 when they finished third. They are led by star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, as well as thriving EPL players Leandro Trossard and Jeremy Doku.
Germany has lifted the World Cup on four occasions, with their most recent success coming in 2014. Joshua Kimmich brings over 100 international caps to the German midfield while star attackers Kai Havertz, Jamal Musiala, and Leroy Sane have also remained in the mix.
The USMNT posted an 11-6-1 record in 2025, most recently defeating Paraguay and Uruguay in the November window.
Early roster prediction for these games. I think Poch will select 26 in order to start getting a roster set for the WC.
GK: Klinsmann, Turner, Freese
D: Weah, Dest, Freeman, Richards, Ream, Mckenzie, Banks, Jedi, Arfsten
M: Adams, Mckennie, Tessman, Berhalter, Roldan, Cardoso
Attacking Midfielders: Pulisic, Reyna, Tillman, Zendejas, Luna
Fwds: Wright, Pepi, Balo
I think Aaronson is out and Scally.
Nice of the USSF to throw Chicago and the greater Midwest a bone with the Germany game.
Zaire ease lots oaf Germunz zair
works for me! We’ll get a really good barometer of where the team is after these three games heading into the WC, what more could we ask for?!
Maybe … Morocco lost 3-0 to US in a freindly before last WC, I think Canada won their last two freindlies, and US was total poop against Japan and Saudi Arabia but made it out of a tough group and yes, they were in a tough group.
If the USMNT is going to have a great run in this World Cup. a significant part of it might be because their opponents will underestimate them.
Portugal blatantly did that in 2002.
Spain blatantly did that in 2009 in the Confederations Cup.
Both games were smash and grab jobs. You’re in and gone before they know what happened.
It is a delicate balance but in the friendlies I hope the USMNT plays well enough to reinforce their confidence but not so great that our Group opponents realize just how dangerous this USMNT can actually be.
A lot of people on SBI are bandwagon jumpers and don’t really believe in our non-Euros or Pochettino. And, with a few notable exceptions, our Euros are not really doing all that well. Tyler, Weston, Scally, Weah, BA, Jedi (knee),Jonny; based on their recent play are disposable. They have impressive USMNT CV’s but those resumes were built under Gregg and he ain’t here no more. And this team is largely a repudiation of much of Berhalterism.
Pochettino has been fortunate. But he’s also been good.
Fortunate in that our non -Euro players are the best and most numerous they have ever been.
Good in that his evaluation of the overall talent pool appears to be accurate. Good in that he’s convinced our Euros that their Non-Euro competition is legit and that a lot of our Euros have a great chance to miss the World Cup.
Whether this is true or not is irrelevant; the player pool believes it and all appear to be acting accordingly.
I want to see this USMNT ‘s peak level best in the actual World Cup not in the warm up games. I have yet to see the draw but even as well as they have played, they still have a chance at getting grouped. There are no great teams but there are a lot of teams good enough to beat the USMNT with a bit of luck. There are very few if any Belize’s or St. Vincent and Grenadines.
I have credited much of this to Pochettino taking Cupcake seriously and meaning it but credit needs to be given to the players, like Can’t pay left back Max, Patrick, Freeman, and Big Balls Diego. One could argue that this whole thing kicked off when Diego refused to leave the game with a broken nose. Since then it’s been all about Big Balls.
I disagree with the premise that we’ll only go as far as opposing teams overlooking us. This isn’t 2002 or 2009, and considering we have the majority of our best players in big leagues and playing UCL, we can guarantee that there will be no taking us lightly.
Opposing teams players know where our players play, and they’ll have to deal with that, so let’s not give the opposition excuses before the WC starts. We should be above this mentality of hoping teams taking us lightly to be successful, and instead lean into taking it to teams, especially at home
Ronniet,
“I disagree with the premise that we’ll only go as far as opposing teams overlooking us. ”
That’s not what I said.
If you interview them before the game most other teams will talk about respecting the USMNT and the crowds and all that lying bullshit. They won’t respect us until we shove it in their faces.
The reality is they really have no idea what to expect from the USMNT because we don’t really have much of a meanigful track record and besides CP, no players that anyone out there is sure about. Do you think that anyone out there would know who Gio was if he was not BFF with Erling and Jude? This team is Pochettino’s vanity project. If they play at their best then there is noithing to worry about. But this is a brand new team and the truth is no one knows how they will do.
It wasn’t that long ago that most of the bandwagon jumpers wanted Pochettino fired.
They should do well in those friendlies. And that is important but overall I prefer they save their best for the real thing. I prefer that our opponents think we suck.
And being underestimated is always helpful in that regard.
You are correct that this is not 2002 or 2009. This World Cup has a couple of good teams ( Spaiin, Argentina,Portugal) no great teams and a lot of pain in the ass teams, including the USMNT. That means any small advantage might take the USMNT a long ways.
“We should be above this mentality of hoping teams taking us lightly to be successful, and instead lean into taking it to teams, especially at home”
You’re talking nonsense. This team and its staff knows what it is doing. They are going to try to take Portugal, Belgium and Germany apart. I only wish England had been one of the teams.
You’re talking about the fans.
What they think is irrelevant
“Opposing teams players know where our players play, and they’ll have to deal with that, so let’s not give the opposition excuses before the WC starts.”
? If there is one thing the USMNT should have shown you it is that where a player plays is mostly beside the point. You would have thought that COSTCO would have shown you guys that name brands are not always better. Rotisserrie chicken , whatever the name on it, is either great or it isn’t.