Who is paying Mauricio Pochettino? External funding backs his multimillion-dollar salary after USMNT renewal
Mauricio Pochettino has signed a new deal to lead the USMNT until the 2030 World Cup, with U.S. Soccer receiving the backup from external fundings to back his multimillion-dollar salary. Mauricio Pochettino has officially signed a contract extension with the United States Men’s National Team to lead the program through the 2030 World Cup, extending a cycle that began in 2024. However, just as with his inaugural contract, U.S. Soccer will once again rely on private philanthropic backing to fund the Argentine manager’s multimillion-dollar salary. Following his initial appointment in 2024, a tax filing released in March 2026 revealed that Pochettino earned roughly $5 million in his first seven months on the job. Excluding a $2.5 million signing bonus, annual projections for his base salary and incentives pushed his earnings near $6 million per year, making him the third-highest-paid national team manager at the 2026 World Cup behind Brazil’s Carlo Ancelotti ($11.3 million) and Germany’s Julian Nagelsmann ($7.9 million). While the exact financial terms of his new four-year deal have not been made public, a comparable salary structure would see Pochettino collect approximately $24 million over the full lifecycle of the contract through 2030. Ken Griffin serves as main U.S. Soccer financial benefactor once again Just as he did during Pochettino’s initial hiring, Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO of Miami-based Citadel and Founder of Griffin Catalyst, has stepped up as the lead private donor behind the extension, alongside other high-net-worth individuals and corporate sponsors. U.S. Soccer confirmed the financial arrangement in an official press release: Kenneth C. Griffin speaks at TIME100 Impact Dinner (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for TIME). “This appointment and broader investment in the U.S. Men’s National Team program is being supported in significant part by a philanthropic leadership gift from Kenneth C. Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel and Founder of Griffin Catalyst. Additional support has been provided by Scott Goodwin, Adam Freede, and several commercial partners.“ Griffin’s financial involvement with soccer in the United States spans nearly a decade, starting with a $3 million donation to the U.S. Soccer Foundation in 2017 to fund 50 urban mini-pitches in Chicago. In 2023, he pledged an additional $5 million to build 50 more mini-pitches across Miami-Dade County following Citadel’s corporate relocation to South Florida. Pochettino sets expectations ahead of the 2030 World Cup cycle Under the new agreement, Pochettino is locked in through 2030, putting him at the helm for the 2026-27 and 2028-29 CONCACAF Nations League tournaments, the 2027 Gold Cup, the 2028 Copa America (expected to return to American soil), and ultimately the 2030 World Cup. Having already capped 62 different players during his first two years in charge, Pochettino expressed optimism for the future in the federation’s announcement: “Working together with U.S. Soccer over the past two years, it has become clear to us that there is tremendous potential to make the Men’s National Team program even stronger,” said Pochettino on the press release. “The passion we experienced from the fans throughout the World Cup only strengthened our belief in what is possible here. We want to try to have a lasting impact on the sport in the country that has welcomed us so warmly and for that impact to extend beyond results on the field,” he added, seeking to build on the momentum generated by the team’s 2026 World Cup run.
