If the USA men’s national team is going to storm back from a 3-1 deficit against Belgium in their World Cup match on July 6, they’re going to be doing so without Christian Pulisic.
This is because Pulisic was subbed out in the 60th minute of USA’s Round of 16 game after appearing to suffer an injury. Pulisic had been battling a calf injury earlier in the tournament but seemed to suffer a knee injury after getting tangled up with Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans.
After Pulisic was subbed out, cameras caught him clearly in pain and emotional while being attended to by a member of the training staff. The moment has quickly gone viral, as Pulisic’s very clear frustration seems to encapsulate how all USA fans are feeling while watching this game.
There’s still time for USA to turn things around. But they’ll need to act fast, and frankly don’t look inspired enough to mount a comeback against the Belgian squad. Aside from another miraculous free kick goal from Malil Tillman, Team USA has mostly disappointed during the game.
Pulisic didn’t manage to many any positive impact, which has been a consistent storyline throughout this World Cup. He deserves some grace because of the injuries he has dealt with, but the bottom line is that he was billed as Team USA’s best player heading into the 2026 World Cup but hasn’t earned that distinction with his performance.
It will be interesting to see the severity if Pulisic’s injury, if only because he’ll be under fire from fans it he was subbed out because of something he potentially could’ve played through.
