Pulisic shoulders home-soil pressure as U.S. prepares for 2026 World Cup

Christian Pulisic carried the heaviest expectations as the United States stepped into a home World Cup built around the belief that soccer could finally claim a bigger place in the American sports mainstream. The United States, co-hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Canada and Mexico, opened Group D against Paraguay in Los Angeles Stadium on June 12, then faced Australia in Seattle on June 19 and Türkiye in Los Angeles on June 25.

Mauricio Pochettino named his 26-man roster on May 26, and the group came with a clear center of gravity. U.S. Soccer said 13 players from the 2022 World Cup squad returned, including eight who started all four matches in Qatar: Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson, Matt Turner, Sergiño Dest and Tim Weah. The federation said the squad averaged 26 years and 332 days and had combined for 121 goals and 84 assists for the USMNT, numbers that underscored both its continuity and the scale of the burden on its most recognizable name.

Pulisic, 27, arrived as the most experienced player on the roster with 84 caps, and U.S. Soccer listed him as the team’s active scoring leader with 32 international goals and 19 assists. FIFA framed him as the hometown face of the tournament, a player from Hershey, Pennsylvania, expected to carry the symbolic weight of “Captain America” for the host nation. That label reflects more than marketing. It speaks to how much of the country’s soccer ambition has been placed on one player’s shoulders as the United States tries to turn hosting duties into lasting support.

Recent form only sharpened the scrutiny. FIFA said Pulisic had gone almost six months without a goal before he scored in the United States’ 2-0 warm-up win over Senegal in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 31. Before that match, Pulisic said, “I’ve had this happen before in my career,” then added that people could stop talking about the slump. For a team built on familiarity and a roster that still leans on veterans from Qatar, Pulisic’s response to that pressure may shape not just this tournament, but the size of the game’s footprint in the United States.