The U.S. Men’s National Team’s FIFA World Cup run may be over, but the schedule has already flipped to what’s next. Whether Mauricio Pochettino remains as head coach remains to be seen, with U.S. Soccer already reportedly offering him a four-year extension to stay through the 2030 World Cup cycle. Pochettino may not be the only change as there will likely be many new faces coming into the squad, starting as early as this fall. Competitive play for the USMNT does not start at the earliest until November, with the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals set to take place. Mexico, Canada, Panama, and the USMNT are set to receive a bye into the final eight as they are the four highest-ranked CONCACAF teams in FIFA’s rankings. However, friendly action is slated to return in two months’ time with FIFA combining the September-October windows to give national teams a longer period with their players. Here is a closer look at what is next on the USMNT’s schedule as preparations to qualify for 2030 are already underway: Fall 2026: Friendlies, CONCACAF Nations League QuarterfinalsThe first matches for the USMNT post-World Cup look set to take place between September 21-October 6.FIFA previously announced its schedule for the upcoming international breaks and are allowing all national teams to play up to four matches during its first window of the fall. While UEFA Nations League will be taking place in Europe, it already looks likely that U.S. Soccer will have to schedule matches against CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, or other federations. CONCACAF Nations League will kick off for many of the other national teams during this timeframe while the USMNT won’t be involved until November’s quarterfinal round. In similar fashion, the quarterfinals will take place over two legs, both home and away. Spring 2027: Potential Nations League Final FourThe USMNT will be expected to advance to Spring 2027’s Final Four, which is slated to take place from March 22-30. Who will join them? We will find out before the year is out. It will be a great opportunity for the USMNT to lift a trophy again and start to shift the dominance back over from Mexico, who has won each of the last two CONCACAF competitions. Summer 2027: Gold CupThe USMNT’s second chance to win a trophy will come at the 2027 CONCACAF Gold Cup.The 19th edition of the bi-annual tournament will run from June 18-July 11 and take place across U.S. soil. Many of the teams will qualify through the upcoming CONCACAF Nations League while Saudi Arabia will also take part as a guest team. A total of 16 teams will feature in the Gold Cup, with the USMNT having a great opportunity to give many new faces a look. Fall 2027: Rounds One & Two of World Cup Qualifying CONCACAF’s World Cup Qualifying schedule will get underway in September 2027.A total of 22 teams ranked No. 14–35 in the CONCACAF rankings will be drawn into pairs and play a home-and-away matchup during the first half of the September–October 2027 international window with the 11 winners advancing to Round Two. Fortunately for the USMNT, they are likely to receive a bye to Round Two, which will begin during the second half of the fall window.The Top 13 ranked associations will be joined by the 11 winners from the Round One to create six groups of four teams with each facing each other home-and-away. Round 2’s later matches will take place in November 2027 and March 2028. The top-two from each group advance to the final round. Summer 2028: Final Round of World Cup Qualifying & Copa America/Olympics2028 will continue a busy year for the USMNT, as well as many from CONCACAF. The 12 teams that advance from Round Two of qualifying will be divided up into three groups of four with each team facing each other home-and-away.Should the USMNT finish in the top-two of their group, they will officially seal a World Cup berth for 2030. However, should they finish as one of the two better third-placed finishers, they will head into a play-in round, which will take place in Fall 2029. The Final Round will be played in June 2028 and in the 2029 September–October international window.In addition to qualifying, the Summer Olympics will kick off from Los Angeles while the Copa America is also scheduled to take place. Steve Cherundolo has been named as the USMNT U-23 head coach for the summer competition and will likely have plenty of players on his roster that are pushing to be part of the World Cup in 2030. As for the Copa America, no official host has been chosen yet, and all we know is that CONMEBOL’s 10 representatives have been granted spots. There will be six guest spots and the USMNT will hope they are one of them as the tournament will provide another great opportunity to prepare for the World Cup. Fall 2028: Nations League League Play & QuarterfinalsFollowing a busy summer, the USMNT will embark back on Nations League duty in Fall 2028 with not many details released yet by CONCACAF.It’s likely to assume that the group stage matches will take place again between September-October, with the quarterfinals happening in November. Should the USMNT advance to the Final Four, they can add two matches to their Spring 2029 schedule. Spring 2029: Nations League Final FourThe 2028-29 CONCACAF Nations League Final Four will take place in March with the USMNT hoping to be back in the knockout stage. Again, another key chance to lift a trophy, with even more new players potentially on the roster. Summer 2029: Gold CupThe USMNT’s final chance to win a trophy before the 2030 FIFA World Cup, the 2029 CONCACAF Gold Cup is slated to happen this summer. It will be curious to see who is brought in as guest teams and how the format could potentially change by then. Fall 2029: Final Round of World Cup Qualifying, Play-In Matches, Intercontinental Playoffs In what the USMNT will hope it not a dramatic window, the final CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying period takes place in September-October 2029. Should the Americans have already qualified or qualify, they will then prepare for the World Cup in the following summer. However, should they drop into the November play-in round, they will face another CONCACAF opponent over two matches, both home-and-away, with the aggregate winner qualifying for the FIFA Intercontinental playoffs. No official date has yet been determined for the Intercontinental Playoffs. What are you most excited about for the next cycle? Do you expect the USMNT to bring home every CONCACAF trophy and seal a World Cup berth?Share your thoughts below.