INGLEWOOD, Calif. — U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino had a message in the postgame press conference on Friday night after his team’s dominant 4-1 win over Paraguay to open its 2026 World Cup.Enjoy the win. Soak it in. But don’t get ahead of yourself. Or, at least, Pochettino and the American team won’t be making that mistake even if you, the fan, can’t help but think big.“The performance of the team overall was really good,” Pochettino said. “But, it’s only one game. It’s only one game. It’s only three points. We need to keep improving … knowing that it’s going to be a journey, it’s going to be really difficult.”Pochettino is right. History has its warnings for this U.S. team. It doesn’t need to dig too far into the past to see that one game does not tell the story of your tournament.“Four years ago, Argentina started with a loss to Saudi Arabia and finished winning the World Cup,” Pochettino reminded everyone on Friday night. “That’s why it’s not only about how you start, but how you progress through the tournament afterward. And the most important thing is how you finish.”There are positives for U.S. fans to take away if you look at the trends of World Cup history, however.