World Cup 2026: Why Mauricio Pochettino’s fluid midfield has made USA rich

Over the past couple of seasons, many teams looking to dominate the ball have done so the hard way.

A very common shape is the 3-2-2-3 set-up with a box in midfield – teams such as Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal have moved fully back into midfield to achieve this.

At this World Cup, teams are willing to rethink that rigid structure, taking a more fluid approach on the ball, and one of the best examples of this is Mauricio Pochettino’s USA.

Here we analyze the shape, movement and intent of their unique approach as they continue their impressive start to the World Cup when they face Australia in Group D on Friday (20:00 BST).

One difficulty was identifying the formation in which the USA was used Their great win was 4-1 against Paraguay last saturday

On paper, you could argue it’s a 4-2-3-1 shape with Sergino as the dest right winger.

When the USA gets the ball, however, it looks like a back three – a fairly common strategy.