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The U.S. men's national team is scheduled to return to action for the first time since the 2026 World Cup this fall, with four friendly matches against Peru, Chile, Mexico, and Canada on home turf to kick off the 2030 World Cup cycle.
With head coach Mauricio Pochettino locked in on a fresh four-year contract running through the 2030 tournament, a new chapter fully begins for the USMNT. While results will matter, the primary focus will likely be on broadening the player pool and pinpointing talents who could develop into key contributors over the next four years.
Despite widespread calls from fans, the USMNT will not feature any away fixtures in the four-match September and October window, missing the chance to test themselves in hostile environments. This could have implications for their away performances in major upcoming competitions. As a result, the USMNT will go a full two years without playing on the road and will have logged only three away matches since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Here, Sports Illustrated ranks the team's four upcoming opponents, as Pochettino's side prepares ahead of November's competitive Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals.
4. Peru
Location: Orlando, Florida
Date: Sept. 26, 2026
Peru isn't the strongest of opponents right now. Despite a reasonably respectable 3–1 defeat to Spain ahead of the World Cup, they haven't shown much promise over the past several years. The squad blends generations, with veteran goalkeeper Pedro Gallese anchoring the defense while younger talents Fabio Gruber and Erick Noriega are just beginning to hit their stride.
Although La Blanquirroja finished ahead of Chile in World Cup qualifying and reached the Copa América final in 2019, their path forward and transition into the next era remains murkier than their fellow South Americans, with even their top players unlikely to match the level the U.S. will encounter against tougher opposition at the 2028 Copa América.
3. Mexico
Location: Glendale, Arizona
Date: Oct. 3, 2026
The USMNT has extensive history against Mexico, particularly on home ground, which makes another matchup against El Tri feel less compelling given the frequency of their meetings. Pochettino's USMNT has faced their southern neighbors twice, losing on both occasions — in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup final and in his second game in charge in October 2024.
While squaring off against a side that pushed England to the limit in the round of 16 at the World Cup will offer a stiff test, it's unlikely to reveal anything new for the USMNT — and could result in a heavy defeat if El Tri enjoys a new-manager bounce under Rafa Márquez. Pochettino may also choose to field less experienced players, leaving an opening for Mexico to capitalize.
Losing to a fierce rival is never ideal, even in a friendly.
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2. Chile
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Date: Sept. 29, 2026
Much like Peru, Chile is navigating a generational transition. However, traces of more successful eras remain, even as younger talents continue to be integrated following a last-place finish in 2026 World Cup qualifying.
Chile claimed back-to-back Copa América titles in 2015 and 2016 before a notable decline, yet they produced some encouraging performances in 2025, including convincing victories over World Cup standouts DR Congo and Cape Verde ahead of the tournament, along with a competitive 2–1 defeat to Portugal.
Should manager Nicolás Córdova field a similar lineup to the one that defeated DR Congo in their most recent outing, the USMNT can expect to face a tenacious and technically capable side, with seven of the starting eleven under the age of 26 — a notably younger group compared to the more experienced Peruvian squad.
1. Canada
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Date: Oct. 3, 2026
The similarities between the two northernmost World Cup co-hosts are striking. Both nations enter the fall with their respective managers on new four-year deals, and each carries high ambitions of making deep runs in upcoming tournaments.
Both sides also face the challenge of building on the group that delivered a measure of success at the World Cup round of 16, while managing how best to reintegrate injury-prone stars Alphonso Davies and Christian Pulisic. Meanwhile, the race for Concacaf's top striker has become a near two-horse contest between Folarin Balogun following his impressive and headline-grabbing summer and Jonathan David, who endured a difficult debut season at Juventus and a subdued World Cup.
With both teams welcoming new talent and seeing key players make moves this summer, the match promises to be a compelling spectacle. Add in the Jesse Marsch factor, the rekindled sporting rivalry following the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic hockey tournaments, and the ongoing political tensions, and this shapes up as a must-watch fixture for both nations.
Historically, the USMNT holds the upper hand, having won 17 of their meetings while Canada has claimed victory 13 times. However, Canada has been dominant in recent years, winning three of the last six encounters and holding the USMNT to a draw in two of those games.