SEATTLE — Fresh off throwing the ceremonial first pitch alongside his full squad at a Seattle Mariners baseball game fewer than 24 hours earlier, United States men’s national soccer team head coach Mauricio Pochettino had an unexpected set of birthday wishes to share Friday. Instead of marking forward Folarin Balogun’s 25th birthday, the 54-year-old Argentine-born coach turned his attention to the nation his side is representing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which celebrated its 250th anniversary of independence on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters Saturday while walking the training pitch at Husky Soccer Stadium, Pochettino smiled and offered a simple, warm greeting: “Happy birthday. It’s 250 years, no?” Since arriving for this summer’s tournament, Pochettino, who was raised in Argentina and maintains a residence in Spain, has fully immersed himself in American culture, joining thousands of elated fans in belting John Denver’s iconic folk anthem “Take Me Home, Country Roads” after every U.S. victory, while still making sure his squad never forgets his South American roots.
U.S. captain Tim Ream, who returned to Major League Soccer’s Charlotte FC after a long stint with England’s Fulham FC in the Premier League, noted the coach’s unwavering connection to his home. “He’s 200 percent Argentine,” Ream explained. “I think he’s obviously taken to the culture, and at the same time has added his bit of culture to us as well. The group is such a melting pot of staff, players. And, it’s just an incredible representation of who we are as people. But, he definitely won’t let us forget that he still is Argentine at the end of the day.”
Pochettino is far from the only member of the U.S. camp with international roots that shape the team’s identity. Six of the 26 rostered players were born outside the United States, and others including Balogun grew up playing soccer in European academies. Balogun, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Nigerian parents and raised in London from a young age, was eligible to represent three different nations at the international level, but ultimately chose to commit his senior career to the U.S. “This is a unique experience for me,” Balogun said, “being in the World Cup in your home nation.”
While soccer has long trailed American football, basketball and baseball in mainstream popularity among U.S. sports fans, new exclusive polling from Ipsos Sports shared with the Associated Press confirms this co-hosted World Cup has reignited passion among existing fans and drawn the curiosity of casual supporters across the country, even as the sport continues working to cement its place as a core part of American sports culture.
On Monday, the U.S. will get a chance to build on that growing momentum when it faces off against Belgium in a Round of 16 knockout match at Seattle’s Lumen Field. A win would mark a historic milestone for U.S. men’s soccer: it would be the first time the nation has ever won two consecutive knockout matches at a World Cup, and would send the team to only its second quarterfinal appearance in tournament history, with the first coming back in 2002.
For Ream, the moment represents more than just a game. “(An) opportunity to continue to inspire tens of millions of people, inspire kids,” Ream said. “It’s an opportunity for us to win another knockout-stage game in a World Cup.” That run will depend on contributions from across the team’s deeply diverse roster, which includes standouts like Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest, both sons of U.S. service members, who bring unique backgrounds to the squad.
Dest is confident the team has improved dramatically since a 5-2 warm-up loss to Belgium back in March, and says the U.S. is more than capable of pulling off an upset Monday. “Belgium is a great opponent,” Dest acknowledged. “But, we also see some opportunities for us to be able to win that game. ‘Cause we are also a great team at the moment. We grew a lot, as well, in this tournament. And, at the moment, it’s really difficult to beat us. So, it will be difficult for Belgium as well.”
Saturday’s 250th independence anniversary gave the squad a chance to step away from training and celebrate the occasion together, with Ream and his teammates watching the city’s fireworks display from a rooftop bar overlooking Puget Sound. Ream noted that celebrating the Fourth of July in Seattle feels far different than marking the holiday in the U.K., where many fans do not understand the history of the holiday. “It’s a little bit different celebrating here than over there because obviously, in a lot of ways, a lot of people don’t actually know why we celebrate the Fourth, which is crazy to me, because they were a big part of why we celebrate the Fourth,” he said.
For Ream, the team’s varied origins — spanning every continent and background — make it the perfect reflection of modern American identity. As the team looks to cap off the holiday weekend with a historic win, he summed up the squad’s ethos: “With all our different backgrounds, where we all have grown up, it’s a true representation of what America is. It’s a melting pot of people, personalities, of characters. It’s the perfect representation of what the U.S. is.”