The home tournament ended for all three CONCACAF co-hosts in the Round of 16. Three months on, the United States, Mexico and Canada meet each other on US pitches, with the USMNT facing Mexico in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday and Canada at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Tuesday.

NBC Sports’ post-World Cup audit ranks the three programmes USMNT first, Mexico second and Canada third, with Pochettino’s attacking depth cited as the slender edge rather than any gulf in quality.

“The U.S. is No. 1. Just,” the piece concludes.

Pochettino bets on youth with Sullivan in

The Argentine named 28 players for the September-October window against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada, carrying over only 13 from the World Cup squad and adding 12 uncapped players. Christian Pulisic is absent as he recovers from a tournament injury; 16-year-old Philadelphia Union forward Cavan Sullivan is the standout new face.

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“He deserves it, he deserves all the praise he’s getting,” Pochettino said of Sullivan. “He is playing well, giving assists and scoring goals.”

Pochettino’s own World Cup ended with a 4-1 Round of 16 loss to Belgium at Lumen Field in Seattle on 6 July.

Márquez starts a clean slate for Mexico

Rafa Márquez stepped up from Javier Aguirre’s staff after Mexico’s 3-2 Round of 16 defeat to England at Estadio Azteca on 6 July, and this is his first competitive window in charge. He named a 30-man squad for four friendlies that will all be played in the United States.

“This isn’t a time to push the brakes, it’s time to accelerate,” Márquez told reporters, promising to integrate young talent into the senior side.

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Nine players from the World Cup group are missing, including Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez through injury and captain Edson Álvarez. First-time call-ups Hugo Camberos and Santiago Sandoval arrive after combining for seven goal contributions in Mexico’s recent U-20 Championship title run. Saturday’s fixture in Glendale will be Márquez’s first full test against a top-table opponent.

Only Marsch kept his post

Jesse Marsch is the only one of the three head coaches whose job carried over from the World Cup unchanged. He took Canada to its best-ever World Cup finish before a 3-0 defeat to Morocco in Houston on 4 July ended the run.

“The rivalry with the United States brings out the best in this group,” Marsch said ahead of the Minnesota meeting. “We’ve had success in our last two meetings with them, and that only raises the standard for what we expect from ourselves.”

Canada has indeed won both of the sides’ last two encounters, most recently a 2-1 victory at SoFi Stadium in March in the CONCACAF Nations League third-place playoff. The NBC audit sees the Canadian spine as thinner than the US or Mexico outside the forward line.

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Kick-off at State Farm Stadium is at 7pm local time on Saturday, with the Canada fixture at Allianz Field also at 7pm local time on Tuesday.

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