US star Christian Pulisic fractured his leg in World Cup loss to Belgium
The U.S. Soccer Federation confirmed that star winger Christian Pulisic sustained a bone bruise and microfracture in his right leg during the round-of-16 clash.
US star Christian Pulisic fractured his leg in World Cup loss to Belgium
The U.S. Soccer Federation announced Thursday that star player Christian Pulisic sustained a microfracture and bone bruise in his right leg during the Americans' World Cup loss to Belgium. The diagnosis followed an X-ray and MRI conducted on Tuesday.
The injury occurred during the round-of-16 match in Seattle on Monday. In the 52nd minute of the 4-1 loss, Pulisic hit the leg of Belgium captain Youri Tielemans while attempting a shot. Although he remained on the pitch for several minutes, he was hobbling and was eventually replaced by Sebastian Berhalter in the 59th minute.
Pulisic, 27, will be sidelined for several weeks. According to the U.S. Soccer Federation, he would have been unable to play for the remainder of the tournament even if the United States had advanced.
The injury adds to a difficult tournament for the right winger, who failed to score during the World Cup. Pulisic previously dealt with a lingering left calf injury sustained during training. That injury forced him to miss one of the team's five matches and led to him leaving two other games early. He played only the first half of the team's World Cup opening 4-1 win over Paraguay and secured one goal and one assist before coming off at halftime due to the leg injury. Following that, he sat out from the group stage match against Australia and returned to the pitch as a substitute in the second half of the following USMNT game against Turkey.
Despite the tournament struggles, Pulisic holds a career record of 30 goals in 90 international appearances.
"Tough to find the words. I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who believed. The support carried us all the way through,"
Christian Pulisic, via Instagram
He added that the team's performance simply wasn’t good enough from us in the end
and that he wanted to deliver so much more
, though he remains blessed to be part of the team.
The recovery process will be a joint effort. The U.S. Men's national team stated on X that U.S. Soccer and AC Milan will collaborate on a recovery plan for the player. Pulisic, who turns 28 in September, is entering his fourth season with the Italian club. He is expected to resume training before AC Milan's Serie A opener at Torino on Aug. 23.
The round-of-16 clash in Seattle also drew attention beyond the injuries. The match faced extra scrutiny after FIFA lifted a red card suspension for U.S. Lead scorer Folarin Balogun. This decision followed a call from President Trump, who has defended his move to contact the league despite the fact that red card appeals are typically not permitted.
The U.S. Run in the tournament officially ended on July 6, after a 4-1 loss to Belgium at Seattle Stadium.
