United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino acknowledged that Lionel Messi’s arrival in MLS has completely transformed the perception of soccer in the country. In an interview with the BBC, the Argentine manager emphasized that the Rosario-born star’s presence has sparked an unprecedented interest in the sport among young Americans.

“Messi is changing the sports culture of the country. Before, kids dreamed of playing basketball or American football; now they also want to become soccer players,” said Pochettino, who took charge in September 2024 and has already managed twenty matches with the U.S. national team.

Messi and the Cultural Shift in U.S. Sports

The Argentine captain’s impact goes far beyond the stadiums. Since joining Inter Miami, television ratings and MLS attendance have soared, while youth academies are seeing record enrollment numbers. Pochettino views it as a direct result of Messi’s magnetism: “His presence is inspiring. Kids no longer see soccer as something foreign, but as their own sport.”

For the coach, the challenge now is to harness this momentum to strengthen the foundations of American soccer. “The key is to bring the culture of soccer to American players. It’s not about adapting the sport to them, but about teaching how football is lived and understood in the rest of the world,” he explained.

Pochettino noted that, after a year of work, the national team has shown significant progress. “We’re creating a shared language — the language of football. It doesn’t matter if you’re American, Brazilian, or English: football has one universal language, that of competition and passion,” he added.

Pochettino’s Vision: Leading the U.S. Into a New Era

The Argentine coach has a clear goal in mind: to lead the United States to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. With a young and talented squad, he believes that the influence of figures like Messi can drive the sport’s growth across all levels.

“There’s incredible motivation in this country,” he said. “People tell me I need to understand the culture of the American player, but I believe what we need is to build the culture of soccer in the United States, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

For Pochettino, Messi’s legacy goes far beyond trophies or goals: he represents a generational and cultural shift that could mark the beginning of a new era for soccer in the United States.