While USA thrashed 4 to 1 to Paraguay in his debut in the Group D of the 2026 World Cup At SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, a camera caught something unusual on the substitute bench: Mauricio Pochettinothe Argentine coach of the North American team, showed information on a laptop in front of his players. The image immediately went viral and raised the question about what technology the Santa Fe native was using to direct the host power.
The tool is called Sportian Performance and was developed by Globanta technology company of Argentine origin. The platform combines artificial intelligence, video analysis and advanced metrics in a single work environment, and allows coaches to make strategic decisions supported by real-time data. The agreement between Pochettino and Globant was officially announced on June 11, days before the start of the tournament.
The module that operates directly on the substitute bench is called Performance Live Pro. During the 90 minutes of play, the system processes over 6,400 player metrics and tactical decisions per matchand captures 1,936 individual performance variables in real time. When any of these metrics exceeds a critical threshold—muscle fatigue, variation in sprint speed, change in the opponent’s defensive structure—the platform generates an automatic alert that goes directly to the coaching staff.
Pochettino himself explained the logic behind the decision: “Facing a historic World Cup, I am convinced of the importance of providing our team with every possible advantage. Sportian Performance offers a unique work environment that allows our staff to analyze matches and make better decisions in real time, backed by solid data”said the coach.
The platform It is not a globalist experiment: already operates in the 42 Spanish La Liga clubs and also incorporates functions aimed at the future of sports analysis, such as models that allow comparing current actions with historical plays and the generation of automatic narratives in real time from data captured during matches. For Luis UretaCEO of Sportian, Pochettino’s adoption of the tool “reflects an increasingly evident trend in football: coaches embracing data and artificial intelligence to reduce complexity, optimize decision-making and anticipate game scenarios.”
The debut of the North American team was a resounding success. With technology operating on the bench and four goals in the rival goal, Pochettino He showed that to lead the host team in the World Cup, Argentine talent can also be used. Although this time it comes in software format.
