USA head into the first leg of their CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final in Haiti on Saturday evening with uncertainty surrounding their head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

After Michael Carrick was sacked as Manchester United manager on Thursday, the expectation is that Pochettino will be named as his successor over the coming days.

Match preview

On the back of a last-16 appearance at the World Cup, Pochettino was focused on trying to deliver a Nations League crown with USA after only making the semi-finals in the last edition.

However, it is yet to be determined whether the Argentine will be in the dugout on Saturday, a consequence of discussions still being held between Man United and United States football chiefs.

The assumption is that a temporary replacement will be named in due course, yet Pochettino has left them in a strong position to kick on in this competition.

USA have won all four friendlies since the World Cup, beating Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada respectively.

Most notably, clean sheets were kept in the 3-0 triumph over Mexico and 1-0 victory versus Canada, with 12 goals also being netted across that period.

Turkey and Belgium are the only nations to have defeated the Stars and Stripes across a nine-game stretch.

Meanwhile, Haiti have responded to their 2026 World Cup campaign with three victories from four matches in the group phase.

Victories over Trinidad & Tobago, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic were enough to earn second place in Group A of League A.

Nevertheless, they did suffer a 2-0 defeat in Costa Rica last time out, leaving recently-appointed head coach David Badia with much to ponder.

This will be the first encounter between the nations since USA prevailed by a 2-1 scoreline in a Gold Cup fixture in June 2025.

Haiti CONCACAF Nations League form:

Haiti form (all competitions):

USA CONCACAF Nations League form:

USA form (all competitions):

Team News

Haiti have been dealt a blow with Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde having withdrawn from the squad with a minor injury.

After dropping out for the Costa Rica defeat, goalkeeper Alexandre Pierre and left-back Martin Experience may be recalled to the starting lineup.

Meanwhile, Giovanni Reyna's absent from the USA squad could lead to Malik Tillman being used in a central position.

Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun should return to the starting lineup, while a decision will need to be made over whether to hand 17-year-old Cavan Sullivan a fourth cap on the right flank.

Matt Freese, Diego Kochen and Brian Schwake are all competing for the goalkeeping spot.

Miles Robinson, Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi are among the other experienced names who do not feature in this squad.

Haiti possible starting lineup:

Pierre; Arcus, Duverne, Delcroix, Experience; Jacques, Sainte; Deedson, Picault, Providence; Isidor

USA possible starting lineup:

Schwake; Freeman, Richards, Trusty, Robinson; Berhalter, Adams; Sullivan, Tillman, Pulisic; Balogun

We say: Haiti 1-1 USA

Although USA are favourites to prevail from this tie, it remains to be seen how the uncertainty surrounding Pochettino will impact on their squad. With that in mind, we are backing Haiti to earn a share of the spoils, with that result realistically deemed acceptable by both nations given the circumstances.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.