Christian Pulisic Injury News: US National Team Team Confident Their Star Will Be Ready to Face Australia
June 17, 2026 · Global
Christian Pulisic has been training separately, but his team-mates are confident he will be ready for the World Cup match against Australia after suffering a minor injury during the game against Paraguay.
IRVINE, Calif. — Christian Pulisic trained separately from his United States national team teammates on Monday, but several players expressed confidence that Pulisic would be ready for Friday's World Cup match against Australia. Pulisic, the US national team's best player, left the World Cup opener against Paraguay in the first half after receiving a kick in the back of his leg. He attended the training session on Monday and was in the gym area with 25 other players before the training session on the pitch began.
When players came out onto the pitch, Pulisic remained in the gym for about five minutes, then went to a separate pitch to work out individually with two members of the team's performance staff. He can be seen doing lateral jumps from one foot to the other, as well as single-leg jumps. A team spokesperson stated that Pulisic would undergo a "modified training session," and he returned to the gym area to watch practice after about 20 minutes on the pitch.
However, two players indicated that the injury was not a problem. “Christian will be ready,” midfielder Tyler Adams said before practice on Monday. "Everyone, let's calm down." Striker Haji Wright, who has known Pulisic since he was a teenager, added: "He's fine. He's normal. He said it was no problem." Pulisic entered the tournament with good health and high expectations, but two days before the opener against Paraguay, "he got a kick" in his leg during a training session, US head coach Mauricio Pochettino said on Friday. Pulisic stated that he then "got a little kick" in the first half in the same area of his left calf. Pochettino said that during the break, Pulisic started to feel tight and couldn't walk. As a precautionary measure, he was replaced. "I hope it's not a big problem," Pochettino said after the match on Friday. He added that he hopes Pulisic will be available for both his teams' Group D matches.
Pulisic himself said on Friday after the match: "I really hope it's nothing. Took a little precaution today, but I hope I'm fine in the next few days." When asked to expand on the nature of the injury, the 27-year-old winger said: "Just the back of my leg, my calf area. But I've experienced something similar before and I'm staying positive. I don't think this is anything." Adams appeared to confirm Monday that those concerns were unfounded. “When you go into the break, things do get tight during the 15-minute break,” Adams said, “but it's going to be OK.” Team USA was already up 3-0 at the time of the substitution. Pulisic performed very well while on the field. He helped create the US's first goal (a Paraguayan own goal) by splitting two defenders. He assisted the second goal with a left-footed cross to Folarin Balogun. "He's very sharp and ready to play," Adams said. "And when you get that version of Christian, it makes everyone around you believe more, because he's such an important player. The number of times he gets the ball, and there are three players surrounding him, and he creates things for other people — that's the importance of what he does," Adams added. "So it doesn't matter if he scores. He creates space for Weston [McKennie], he creates space for Flo [Balogun], and that makes us a more dangerous team. ... That's the value of Christian." The US team, after a day's rest on Sunday, will practice three times at Great Park in Irvine this week before traveling to Seattle on Wednesday. They will train at the University of Washington's football stadium on Thursday before their match against Australia on Friday, which kicks off at 12pm local time, 3pm ET. This match could be key, with the US and Australia both top of the group, and with the head-to-head as the first tiebreaker if both teams are on four, six or seven points. And Pulisic could be very important for the US team. However, at the same time, maintaining his health during the tournament will be paramount, and playing against Australia could pose risks. Pochettino will surely remember how Australia treated Pulisic when the two teams met in a friendly back in October. Jason Geria, an Australian defender, fouled Pulisic at least twice in the opening 30 minutes. One of those rough tackles caused a hamstring injury that forced Pulisic out of the match and kept him out of action for several weeks. All other players on the US team practiced with the full group on Monday.