Mauricio Pochettino's USA side bowed out of their World Cup campaign embarrassingly, being on the receiving end of a 4-1 thrashing by Belgium . The host nation had a promising start to the tournament, finishing top of their group and beating Bosnia & Herzegovina in the Round of 32, but that soon changed in the next game.
There was controversy before the game, with Folarin Balogun's red card being suspended after intervention from USA President Donald Trump , meaning that the ex- Arsenal striker was allowed to feature, much to the benefit of the USA, as the Monaco man had already scored three in four games.
As much as it frustrated Belgium, it didn't matter as they went on to dominate from start to finish. Pochettino's side looked a shadow of themselves in previous games, and they became the final host nation to be knocked out of the tournament, as well as missing out on the chance to make it to their first quarter-final since 2002.
Media Reaction on Pulisic's Performance
Christian Pulisic is one of the biggest stars in the USA national team, but he has failed to show the expected performance levels throughout the tournament, only managing to register one assist.
The Milan winger was subbed off in the 59th minute of the 4-1 loss, and many are arguing his American legacy has been tainted. Despite being the leader of the national team for some time, Pulisic has failed to lead the side to glory or even to the latter stages of any tournament, and his performance against Belgium hasn't helped his case.
American-based website Sports Illustrated hit out at Pulisic following the disappointing game. They said: "The USMNT needed its talisman to step up and be the difference-maker, and he failed the task. Even before his premature exit, the star winger struggled to generate anything offensively. He had just one touch in Belgium’s box and didn’t get a single shot off."
They weren't the only ones to give their verdict on Captain America, as former USA women's star Carli Loyd told Fox Sports : "You wanted some of those big-time players to step up in a big moment. I gotta be honest, I was a bit disappointed with Christian Pulisic.
I think, whether he wants to be the star of this team or not, we didn’t see enough from him in this particular game, and really the whole World Cup,”
FOX Sports Radio's Jamie Fox also said: "It’s an uncomfortable conversation because for the longest time it was, ‘Pulisic’s gonna do it. Pulisic’s gonna do it. He’s our guy; he’s Captain America.’ And now you’re looking at Christian Pulisic, where his World Cup career is just about done.
“ When you say, OK, his legacy, Christian Pulisic, the golden era, it’s not what we thought it would be or not what we needed it to be. The hype for him and what we thought he could do … he’s just been OK and he’s been injured. The whole Christian Pulisic era is underachieving."
Do The Media Have a Point?
Pulisic has led the team for many years now, and there still isn't a lot to show for his efforts. The furthest the team has reached in the World Cup is the round of 16, and Pulisic failed to step up to the plate in this tournament.
In fairness to the former Chelsea attacker, he did pick up an injury against Paraguay in the group stages, and has been trying to manage the injury since, which makes it no surprise he was subbed off in the 59th minute against Belgium.
Donald Trump has already got involved at the 2026 World Cup on the USA's behalf, could he do it again?
Pulisic registered 36 touches during the game, completing only 2 of his 6 attempted dribbles, whilst losing six out of his 8 duels. It doesn't come as a surprise that he was subbed off during the game, and many would've expected more from 'the LeBron James of Soccer'.
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