Pulisic leads US past Senegal, 3-2, in World Cup tuneup win

Christian Pulisic delivered the clearest signal yet that the United States still runs through his left foot and late-game instinct, producing a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win over Senegal that doubled as a World Cup readiness test.

At Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Americans opened the Allstate Continental Clásico with Sergiño Dest’s early goal and closed it with Folarin Balogun’s second-half winner. Pulisic set up one of the United States’ goals and scored the other, breaking a scoring drought that stretched back to November 2024 and reminding the program how much of its attacking edge still depends on his ability to decide games from the half spaces and in transition.

The result answered one important question for Mauricio Pochettino’s side: the U.S. can still generate goals against an organized, physical opponent with quality at the top of the lineup. Pulisic was the team’s best player in ESPN’s grading, and his impact fit the broader pattern the federation has been trying to establish before the World Cup. Balogun supplied the winner, Dest added a goal from the back line, and the attack showed enough variation to suggest the Americans are not limited to one route to goal.

The harder question remains whether the United States can control games after it gets ahead. Sadio Mané scored both Senegal goals, one before halftime and one after, and each time the visitors found a way back into a match the U.S. appeared to have in hand. That kind of leakiness is harder to ignore in a tournament setting, where one lapse can turn a promising start into a dangerous chase.

The match was played on May 31, 2026, with kickoff listed at 3:30 p.m. ET and pregame coverage on TBS. It was the Americans’ next-to-last World Cup warmup before facing Germany on June 6 in Chicago, part of a compressed final stretch in which lineup decisions, role clarity and defensive habits matter as much as results. U.S. Soccer has framed the summer tuneups as a chance to finalize its structure before the tournament.

That tournament will be unlike any previous World Cup, with FIFA set to stage the first edition featuring 48 teams across three host countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States. Against that backdrop, the win over Senegal was less a celebration than a temperature check. Pulisic looked like the focal point, Balogun looked like a viable finisher, and Dest added a threat from an unexpected source. The unanswered concern is whether the United States can keep opponents from turning every strong stretch into a track meet.