'When he plays like that, it’s tough to beat us.': Christian Pulisic's blazing start has USMNT believing

Equipped with a telescope or perhaps one of those drones U.S. Soccer was flying overhead, one might have been able to get a decent look at Christian Pulisic this week as he trained individually in advance of Friday’s second game at the 2026 World Cup.

A kick in the calf during his brilliant first-half performance against Paraguay in the opening game last week led him to exit at halftime, and it has impacted his work in preparation for the second Group D game, against Australia. As witnessed by reporters at Great Park in Irvine, Calif., Monday, the United States men’s national team’s practice amounted to: They’re over here, he’s way over there.

This was true a third consecutive day Wednesday. It is not a small matter, but his teammates insist it’s not a big deal. Some of them have been around Pulisic more than a decade, from youth national teams to multiple World Cups. They understand why people care, but they’ve known him too well for too long to expect him to be absent from such a big game.

Could the USMNT get by without him for a night? Well, getting by is not the idea. What they want is to continue the standard from the 4-1 victory over Paraguay into subsequent games against Australia and Turkey, and that requires more of what we saw from Pulisic in those first 45 minutes.

BONN: Player ratings for USMNT in World Cup opener

In the 7^th minute, he split a double-team with a beautiful dribble move into the box, then slid the ball to nearby Weston McKennie, whose attempt to find Folarin Balogun with a cross was deflected in for an own-goal. Pulisic’s pass directly through a defender on the left wing found Balogun in stride for the first of his two goals. Not every one of Pulisic’s astonishing moves was rewarded with a goal, or the U.S. would have been ahead of Paraguay by two touchdowns. But he was an even bigger reason for the 3-0 start than the guy who scored twice.

PULISIC TO BALOGUN TO DOUBLE THE LEAD! 🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/IUvPu81kzl

“He was extremely sharp and ready to go,” midfielder Tyler Adams told The Sporting News. “But I’ve just seen him over the past few weeks training extremely well – every single training session, wanting to improve. As he always does. But you could just see the importance level of this tournament, what it means to him, what it means to represent his country. He’s a leader, an unbelievable player. And when you get that version of Christian, it makes everyone else around you just believe even more, because he’s such an important player.”

Pulisic never really has adored speaking with the media about his play, but he was noticeably agitated a few times this summer when the subject was raised about the pressure he would feel to perform at a high level in a home World Cup.

There is reason to wonder. He’s in beer ads with Lionel Messi, for goodness sakes. That doesn’t mean he needs to be out there scoring hat tricks, but he has said he wants to make a difference for American soccer.

“I’m really grateful to be in this position. It’s exactly what I want,” he said when the U.S. roster was announced. “I have a chance to help my country to perform at a World Cup. I’m lucky.

“You only have a World Cup in your home country once in your life.”

2026 WORLD CUP HQ: Latest World Cup news | Full World Cup schedule | Updated World Cup standings

Even more irritating than this line of questioning, though, might have been the issue made of his “goal drought” that began as 2025 morphed into 2026. He played 19 games with AC Milan without scoring, after getting through December with 10 goals for the club in all competitions.

It would be fair to say he appeared somewhat lacking in confidence in the U.S. exhibitions in March against Belgium and Portugal, but Friday showed he can perform at an elite level without scoring. He never has been a Harry Kane-type and almost never has been deployed as a center forward. It was his goal that rescued the USMNT in their final World Cup group match at Qatar 2022, but it was his assist to Timothy Weah that delivered that team’s first goal of the tournament, in a 1-1 draw against Wales.

“I don’t think he really lets that kind of stuff affect him. I think knows who he is as a player and as a man,” U.S. forward Haji Wright told SN. “He knows we all believe in him and are behind him. And when he plays like that, it’s tough to beat us.

“He was amazing. He was unplayable. You could tell he really came into the game with confidence and hunger.”

MORE: Gio Reyna's goal caps nearly spotless performance in World Cup opener

Pulisic entered this World Cup ranked 27^th in career appearances among USMNT players (86), fifth in goals (33) and fifth in assists (20). He is the only American player to appear in a UEFA Champions League final, and his goal and assist in the semis against Real Madrid helped lead to the title for Chelsea FC.

With AC Milan, he won Italy’s Supercoppa in 2025 by scoring one goal and helping to set up the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over archrival Inter. He has been named to Serie A’s Team of the Season twice in his three years.

DECOURCY: USMNT shows growth under Mauricio Pochettino

Bothered by injury and perhaps by an adjustment to his position, he did not finish the 2025-26 season as brightly. He broke that goal drought in a pre-Cup friendly against Senegal, though, and he had moments against title contender Germany when he was the best player on the field. That was true for a full 45 minutes, as well, in the Paraguay game. With a 3-0 lead and that developing calf issue, it stood to reason he’d given enough.

Pulisic’s goal drought is at two games now. Does that seem like a problem?

“I don’t know if it sparks a fire for him, in term of motivation and what he’s trying to set out to accomplish, but to attach goals to his name – I think we focus so much on his statistics and what that means – if you watched that game and the amount of time there’s three players around him, and he creates something for someone else, that’s the importance of what he does,” Adams told SN. “It doesn’t matter if he’s scoring goals. He creates spaces for Weston, he creates spaces for Flo, and that makes us a more dangerous team.”