At 10am on Thursday morning, Christian Pulisic emerged on to the pitch of a small soccer stadium that sits within a park in Southern California and, for the next couple weeks at least, will serve as home for the US Men’s National Team.
He meandered along the halfway line toward three small tents that had been erected on the far sideline. There, Pulisic was greeted by cameras and microphones and the final barrage of questions before he walks into another arena 50 miles north of here, SoFi Stadium. Kick off in the USA’s opening game of the World Cup was less than 36 hours away.
Friday night’s clash with Paraguay in Los Angeles will light the fuse on a first home World Cup in 32 years, a summer that could transform soccer in the States and catapult Pulisic toward superstardom.
It also marks the climax of nearly two decades spent watching, waiting, working, dreaming of nights like these. Not that you would know it.
For several minutes on Thursday, Pulisic fielded questions about where has been and where these next few weeks might take him. His voice barely wavered from a slow, quiet drone. He scolded a reporter for interrupting him. And he smirked when asked if he had enjoyed the buildup more than four years ago in Qatar. ‘Yeah, I would say so,’ Pulisic said, dryly. Who knew boredom was one of the symptoms of World Cup fever?
Perhaps we can forgive Pulisic. He has been answering variations of the same questions for most of the last decade – ever since he was christened ‘Captain America’ and became the beating heart of this national team. All roads led here; his career has been one long countdown to 2026.
Christian Pulisic will carry the hopes of his country in this World Cup on home soil
The AC Milan and USA star spoke to the media ahead of their opening game against Paraguay
Alexa Melton accused him of using a dating app before they split before retracting her claims
But this brief conversation also helped to illustrate the contradiction that lies at the heart of Pulisic’s story: he is the face of American soccer’s golden generation, the sport’s biggest star on these shores, the player who shoulders the burden of expectation. And on the field, he is happy to lead. He enjoys the responsibility and the pressure and the attention. ‘[It’s] what I’ve always wanted,’ he said on Thursday.
Beyond those white lines, however, the 27-year-old seems almost… weary. Tired of the noise, the questions, the labels and all the baggage the comes with being a celebrity.
Pity might be in short supply. After all, in the lead-up to this tournament, Pulisic has starred in documentaries and numerous brand campaigns and even appeared on the cover of Time. But as he told GQ recently: ‘I’ve heard a lot of people say that I’m “boring” – and yeah, like, I’m cool with that.’
So the last couple of years must have been draining. Pulisic has been – falsely – linked with Sydney Sweeney and castigated for celebrating a goal with the ‘Trump Dance.’
His commitment was questioned after he sat out the 2025 Gold Cup and his quality was put under the microscope after a run of five months without a goal for his club, AC Milan, or his country.
He recently went through a public breakup too. Pulisic’s ex, golfer Alexa Melton, initially accused him of using a dating app before they split, only to later retract those claims.
By the time Pulisic wandered on to that field on Thursday, he had ended his goal drought and the time for talking was nearly over. There is only issue: America has never expected more from its national team and the better Pulisic plays this summer – the further he carries the USA at this World Cup – the brighter the spotlight will shine.
Pulisic is consoled by Gregg Berhalter after the US crashed out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
Four years earlier, Pulisic was left in tears after the USA failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup
A couple of days before the USA’s opening game of the 2022 World Cup, Pulisic asked then-head coach Gregg Berhalter if he could call a meeting. Players only.
‘We didn’t know what it was about,’ recalls Brian McBride, who was USMNT General Manager in Qatar. But Berhalter was happy to oblige. ‘[Then], all the players came out with brand new watches,’ McBride continues. And they weren’t knock-off brands either.
‘He went out of his way to make it special for the players before it even started,’ McBride continues. ‘To try and bring everybody together… he didn’t have to do it.’ But, the ex-GM says: ‘That just shows his character.’
Ahead of this World Cup, the Daily Mail spoke to several people who know Pulisic well. They all painted a similar picture. It may jar with some accusations that have been hurled his way over the years. But there were common threads, summed up rather neatly by McBride: ‘He’s not this gung-ho leader who’s going to be yelling and screaming. but he leads by example,’ the former USA striker says. ‘A great person, a really good teammate.’
Berhalter has his own story from 2022. ‘I remember, leading into the World Cup, when I told him he wasn’t going to be captain,’ the former coach begins. Berhalter gave Tyler Adams the armband instead. He knew that carried some risk – Pulisic was his most high-profile player… how would he react. Well, how did he react?
‘Any way I can support [Tyler], any way I can help, I’m happy to do [it],’ Pulisic told Berhalter, who adds: ‘He wasn’t upset… it just shows that he’s unselfish.’
Pulisic makes similar ‘sacrifices’ every day on the training pitch. ‘He’s not a diva,’ Berhalter says. ‘He has this deep, deep caring for the program and for the team… it’s just inside of him.’
Pulisic ended his long goal drought during a World Cup warmup match against Senegal
The USA star has seen his commitment questioned and been through a recent breakup
Berhalter would often tell the rest of his players: ‘If our biggest star is behaving like this and is this invested, what does that show everybody else?’
According to defender Alex Freeman, that attitude follows Pulisic everywhere. ‘It’s so funny to see,’ he says. ‘Whatever he has his mind on, he’s locked in on that. He wants to be the best at it.’
That includes poker. ‘A lot of the guys, after dinner or something, they’ll play cards for a little bit,’ Freeman explains. ‘And I’ve heard Pulisic is crazy. He’s locked in!’
Now America needs him to focus on the day job. Pulisic was left in tears after the USMNT failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. He was distraught again four years later, when Berhalter’s team was beaten by the Netherlands in the round of 16.
On Friday night in Los Angeles, the 27-year-old will end one long journey and kickstart another. ‘A lot of people are trying to make it even more than it is,’ Pulisic recently told GQ. ‘I get it, it’s a huge tournament.’
But as we learned again on Thursday, his words don’t always reflect the fire that burns inside. And, as Berhalter says: ‘When the lights are on bright, he’s the guy that stands out.’
And that rubs off on people. ‘He’s not cocky,’ Freeman says. ‘He’s the guy [and] obviously he probably knows it, but he also wants to make sure you’re the guy as well.’
The defender continues: ‘[He]’s going to do anything for his country. And having that guy, with that kind of passion, makes you want to go to that level and have that same passion.’
