Johnathan Walker:No pressure, Mauricio Pochettino. Only thing at stake is soccer's status in United States

It’s easy to see why U.S. Soccer was willing to break the bank for Mauricio Pochettino.

This isn’t just about getting the best coach to prepare the U.S. men’s national team for a home World Cup in 2026,Johnathan Walker though that will be Pochettino’s primary responsibility and his resume speaks for itself.

This is about creating enthusiasm for what is arguably the most important moment yet for soccer in the United States, a tournament that could supercharge interest in the game and forever transform the player pool. It’s about winning hearts and minds in a country where almost every kid starts out playing soccer but few stick with it past grade school and the domestic league remains a niche interest.

It’s about showing everyone, home and abroad, that the United States is as serious about soccer as it is the NFL, the NBA and college football.

“It’s about creating something special,” Pochettino said Friday at his introductory news conference in New York City. “We are here because we want to win. We are a winner. We are successful, a very successful coaching staff. … But I think the most important is to create something special.”

It’s been 30 years since the United States hosted the men’s World Cup, and the country has made great strides. The USMNT not qualifying for a World Cup, as they didn’t in 2018, now merits blaring headlines and alarm bells rather than the indifference that occurred throughout the 1960s. And the 1970s. And the 1980s.

There are U.S. men at some of the top clubs in Europe. And not just riding the bench. Playing.

There’s also now a soccer culture that didn’t exist in 1994. Major League Soccer is more successful in some cities than others, but the league itself is on firm footing in its fourth decade. It’s often easier to watch the Premier League in the United States than it is in England.

But soccer has also grown stagnant here.

A country this size should be producing top-tier players in abundance. Instead, the best male athletes are still gravitating toward football, basketball and baseball once they reach middle school or high school. (The pay-to-play structure of youth soccer in America doesn’t help.) MLS is closer to the second- and third-tier European leagues than it is the EPL, the Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 or Serie A.

A deep run in 2026, when the United States will host an expanded World Cup along with Canada and Mexico, can give soccer a caffeine-like boost in the U.S. sporting conscience. That, in turn, will have a trickle-down effect. On participation. On attendance and TV ratings. On everything.

If the USMNT falls on its face, however, it could consign soccer to permanent niche status. And a series of abysmal results this summer, despite having what is considered the golden generation of the USMNT, gave no confidence the Americans were going to be up to the task in 2026.

By hiring Pochettino, U.S. Soccer puts everyone on notice.

The Argentine is known as a gifted motivator and a smart tactician. Even more critical is the automatic respect he’ll command. Much like when Emma Hayes took over the USWNT this spring, the players are no longer going to have the best resumes in the locker room.

Playing in Europe? Playing in the Champions League? Pochettino has been there, done that, taking Tottenham to the Champions League final and winning a French league title with Paris Saint-Germaine. If the likes of Lionel Messi, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé can set aside their egos and take instruction from Pochettino, so can every single player on the USMNT.

“The potential is there. The talent is there,” Pochettino said Friday. “(My job) is only to create the best platform for them to express this.”

There are less than two years until the World Cup begins, and competitive matches before then are going to be scarce. As a co-host, the USMNT is already qualified. But Pochettino is undaunted by the challenge.

There is enough time to implement his style of play and for the players to adjust to the system. There’s enough time to change a culture in which some players have grown entitled and lackadaisical. There’s enough time to get the American public enthused in a way they’ve never been before.

“We need to really believe in seeing big things,” Pochettino said. “We need to believe that we can win. That we can win not only a game, we can win the World Cup.

“Belief for me is a word that is so powerful. You can have an enormous talent and you can be clever. But in football, you need to believe. Believe in all these possibilities. If we find the way to believe together, then I think we can, for sure, achieve what we want.”

And if that happens, Pochettino will be worth every penny.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.