United States v Panama: Line-ups, stats and preview

United States boss Mauricio Pochettino has spent much of the past week talking about the future.

But of more immediate attention is the present with tomorrow’s CONCACAF Nations League semi-final against Panama at SoFi Stadium California looming large.

Pochettino has been discussing his role with the USMNT, what it means for the country, the challenges he has faced so far and what the next few years look like with the States still determined to become one of the leading sides in the world.

That could be accelerated by the interest that will be generated by jointly hosting the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico.

And Argentine Pochettino is aware of what’s at stake.

The 23 players that will compete for the 2025 @CNationsLeague title 🏆

Your March #USMNT roster » https://t.co/hfvA4i1wN7 pic.twitter.com/KyaMXjyIvD

— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) March 11, 2025

He told The Athletic: “I think the pressure is going to be there because we are a host.

“It’s a country where the mentality is about winning. In sport, in everything that Americans are involved in, they want to win. That is the culture. Of course, it is going to be a pressure, but a welcome one. That means that we are going to feel the adrenaline that we need to feel.”

Former Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea boss Pochettino has always been an advocate of a strong team spirit and he is hoping a club mentality can also work on the international stage.

“It’s really important that we need to build our own team,” he added. “It’s not only the characteristics of the players, it’s about the discipline and the atmosphere that we want to create in the national team.

“We need 23 or 26 players who will be happy to be in the squad and want to help the national team from every position. We have to create this good energy. Because if not, it’s going to be tough.”

If the US can get past Panama, either Canada or Mexico await in Sunday’s final.

The final four is loaded with political tension following the return of Donald Trump to the White House but Pochettino is wary of delving into areas in which he is not an expert.

“I think we cannot mix political things with the sport in my career. It’s not because I don’t want to talk,” Pochettino said.

“We have qualified people who can talk about politics but I am not an expert on politics. I have of course my ideas as a 53-year-old but it’s not the point for me to mix.

“Soccer is soccer or football for me, but we want to destroy Panama, we want to destroy the next one and we want to win but destroy. When I say we destroy, it’s in a [sporting] way. We want to beat them and win the game, and I think that motivation can’t be from different diplomatic problems that we cannot be involved in, players cannot be involved in.

“We need to play for us, we need to feel proud to defend our flag. We need to play for our country always on the pitch trying to be better than the opponent. I think it’s a big mistake if we talk about politics because people are not waiting for us to talk in this way.”

The US have won their last four games and ought to be too strong for a Panama side that have lost five of their last seven.