Pochettino Signs Two-and-a-Half-Year Contract With Manchester United, Starts on November 18
Key Facts
Manchester United announced the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as head coach of the men’s first team, with him due to begin on November 18, 2026, after an agreement with the U.S. Soccer Federation to release him and his staff from their national-team duties. The coach signed a two-and-a-half-year contract, according to an Associated Press report published on November 13. The English club will pay the federation a release fee to end Pochettino’s contract; the report did not specify the amount. The appointment gives United a new coach as it faces an immediate challenge, with Pochettino starting work four days before the team’s match against Liverpool. The announcement came one day after Michael Carrick was dismissed.
The Associated Press linked Carrick’s dismissal to his overseeing United’s worst league start in 40 years, the period immediately preceding Pochettino’s appointment. The coach is therefore moving from leading the U.S. national team to a club coming off a league start the agency described as its worst in four decades. The timing of the appointment leaves the coach only a few days before the Liverpool match: he officially starts on November 18, and the game takes place four days later. The change follows Carrick’s dismissal, without relying on any undocumented description of the club’s condition or its motives. These facts make the Liverpool match a prominent early test in Pochettino’s tenure with the team.
Pochettino was under contract with the U.S. Soccer Federation to lead the national team through the 2030 World Cup, according to the Associated Press. The federation had announced that contract three months before the agency’s November 13, 2026, report, before reaching an agreement to release the coach and his staff from their duties. Under the new arrangement, Manchester United will pay a release fee to end the contract, but the amount was not disclosed. The U.S. federation’s president said the money would help the federation hire coaches and support youth national-team programs and coach education. “This money is used to help us hire outstanding coaches,” he added. According to the statement, the fee will go toward the federation’s coaching needs and youth programs.
Before his last two matches with the U.S. national team against Haiti, Pochettino’s record stood at 21 wins, 12 losses and two draws, according to the Associated Press. A penalty shootout win over Costa Rica counted as a draw in that record, the agency explained. He had led the United States to the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup hosted by the country, while his tenure with the national team was covered by the contract announced through 2030. The agency also reported that he was the first long-term U.S. coach to win no titles since Steve Sampson’s tenure between 1995 and 1998. These milestones provide context for Pochettino’s transition from the national team to United, while two official national-team matches remained on his schedule before his new role began.
The U.S. Soccer Federation scheduled the two CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal matches against Haiti for November 14 and 17, 2026, in Miami and Cincinnati, respectively. The matches come before Pochettino’s November 18 start at United, following the release agreement that also covered his staff. According to the Associated Press, his record with the national team before those two matches was 21 wins, 12 losses and two draws. After moving to the English club, he will face Liverpool four days after taking the job. The schedule thus brings Pochettino’s final national-team commitments and the start of his new role in the English league within a few days of each other.
Pochettino’s experience in England dates back to his spell at Southampton, which finished the 2013/14 season in eighth place, according to a report published by the Premier League. He then coached Tottenham for five and a half seasons, reaching the Champions League final with the club in 2019. Those spells form part of his career before his appointment as Manchester United coach, where he will start work on November 18 on a two-and-a-half-year contract. His anticipated first appearance in the role comes four days before the Liverpool match, amid what the Associated Press described as United’s worst league start in 40 years. His final commitments with the U.S. national team precede the move, with the Haiti matches scheduled for November 14 and 17.