Pulisic hails strongest U.S. squad yet ahead of 2026 World Cup

Christian Pulisic is making the boldest case of his U.S. career: this national team may be the strongest group he has ever joined, and the burden now shifts from promise to proof.

The AC Milan forward said the current side has the quality and depth to justify optimism ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which the United States will co-host with Canada and Mexico. Asked directly whether this is the best U.S. team he has known, Pulisic answered, "I think you could say so." He added, "I think for sure you have a really, really strong squad and depth as well."

That argument carries weight because Pulisic remains the most recognizable figure in the modern U.S. men’s program, the player most associated with its rise and its setbacks. His endorsement also arrives with the pressure of a home World Cup building fast. In a separate recent interview, he said that pressure is "nothing I can't handle."

The 2026 tournament will be unlike any World Cup before it. FIFA has expanded it to 48 teams and 104 matches across 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States, with the final set for New York New Jersey on July 19, 2026. The draw was held in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 5, 2025, and the United States was placed in Group D as a host nation.

Pulisic’s claim rests not only on his own standing but on the broader player pool now around him. ESPN’s current U.S. squad page lists Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson, Chris Richards, Timothy Weah, Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Giovanni Reyna and Malik Tillman alongside Pulisic, a collection that shows far more established European-level depth than the U.S. has often carried into major tournaments.

That is the promise. The unresolved question is whether the Americans can turn that depth into results when the matches sharpen and the margins shrink. The U.S. enters the tournament with 11 previous World Cup appearances, but past rosters have too often found the gap between respectable talent and real knockout-stage threat. Pulisic’s comments reflect a program that believes its ceiling has risen; 2026 will show whether that ceiling is high enough to withstand injuries, tactical adjustments and the weight of expectation on home soil.