With less than a year to go before the 2026 World Cup kicks off, the USA will continue their preparations with a friendly against Ecuador in Texas on October 10. Both sides have already secured their qualification, and this clash provides an ideal testing ground for their managers to fine-tune tactics and assess their squad ahead of the tournament.<\/p>
As one of the World Cup’s co-hosts, the USA’s focus now shifts to refining their system under Mauricio Pochettino, who has won 11 of his 18 games in charge. The Americans head into this match on the back of a 2–0 win over Japan. Notably, that victory restored some confidence after back-to-back losses to South Korea and Switzerland earlier this year. While Pochettino’s reign has been mixed, the USA have shown flashes of progress, particularly at home. History also favors them as they are unbeaten in their last four meetings with Ecuador, winning the last three.<\/p>