The US will face Bosnia and Herzegovina in Santa Clara in the round of 32 on Wednesday, and Pochettino was frustrated that much of the post-match discussion centred on the defeat rather than the co-hosts achieving their main goal of winning Group D.
"At the moment no one congratulated us for finishing first in our group," Pochettino told reporters. "I congratulate the players, the staff and the fans to finish first in a very difficult group."
Turkey had already been eliminated before kick-off but the Argentine said the mood after the match was as if his team were the ones going home.
"Our objective was to finish first, and we finished first," he said. "I'm so positive and I'm happy. Your questions are a little bit weird."
Pochettino said the defeat had to be viewed in context, with the US already through to the knockout stage and making wholesale changes to their starting line-up after victories over Paraguay and Australia.
"Whenever a team has already qualified and another team has already been knocked out, so many situations come into play," he added.
Pochettino said the performance reinforced his belief in the depth of the squad, with several players making their World Cup debuts.
"We are a much better team now than before," he said. "We qualified as number one and we went to the next round. I need to remind you that we won the group."
FIFA World Cup 2026
The 2026 World Cup took place from June 11th to July 19th in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The tournament featured 48 national teams and was won by Spain, who beat Argentina in the final.
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