With the eyes of the soccer world on the United States Men's National Team, the lads in the Stars and Stripes were able to handle Paraguay last Friday to kick off the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
While striker Folarin Balogun was named Man of the Match following his two-goal outing in the 4-1, AC Milan winger Christian Pulisic also made quite the impression. Often tabbed as "Captain America," Pulisic was tied for having the second-highest match rating with an impressive eight.
On 37 touches, he registered one assist and two big chances created. He also seemed to look much more like the Pulisic that led AC Milan in scoring in 2024-25 as opposed to the one that was banged up leading into the World Cup.
Despite his strong outing, Pulisic did exit the game at halftime after aggravating a calf injury he suffered in training the week before. On Thursday, head coach Mauricio Pochettino announced Pulisic's current status for Friday's game against Australia.
Is Christian Pulisic playing against Australia?
"As you know, he was training in an individual way the whole week," Pochettino said. "But like always, I think tonight...We have a meeting with our medical area and we will assess the whole group (of) players. And tomorrow we will communicate this and see all the things that can, you know agree tonight."
(Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images)
Although he didn't have a definitive answer on Pulisic's status, he did offer some encouragement.
"He's evolving," Pochettino said. "He's evolving, he's much better from Friday. We'll see. I think at the moment we see, (if) he's not available for tomorrow (against Australia) or will be available for the next game (against Turkey). But I think he's doing a massive effort trying to be ready."
Team USA will face off against the Aussies at 3:00 p.m. ET in a game that will air on FOX, Telemundo and FOX One.
