The United States secured an important victory against Paraguay in their 2026 World Cup debut, where they prevailed 4-1 thanks to a brace from Folarin Balogun, but in the end, all the spotlights turned to Christian Pulisic, who was substituted at the beginning of the second half while putting on a great performance.
Following the match, Mauricio Pochettino revealed that it was nothing serious, but there were still no firsthand words until Pulisic came out to provide the update that the fans were waiting for.
“I just got a bit of a kick in the first half. I’m hoping that it’s nothing, taking precaution,” Pulisic added. “Back of my leg, sort of my left calf area. Staying positive, I don’t think it’s anything.”
Pulisic’s great performance in the debut
Pulisic said the knock happened to his left leg. Before his substitution, the 27-year-old was sharp in the first half, with his silky dribble past two defenders ultimately setting up the U.S. opener, an own goal by Damian Bobadilla in the seventh minute.
Christian Pulisic #10 and Weston McKennie #8 of the United States
In addition to his participation in the first goal that opened the scoring for USA, before being substituted and despite Balogun’s brace, it could be said that Pulisic was the most unbalancing player and the best among those led by Pochettino.
He had already caused two bookings on his flank for Paraguay, to full back Juan Jose Caceres and defender Gustavo Gomez. He was truly uncontainable and highly unbalancing, forming a great partnership with Antonee Robinson, who did whatever he wanted.
Finally, the USA remain very well positioned in the standings with this first victory, beyond the 3 points, carrying a +3 goal differential, something that is extremely important in a World Cup, and they now await the match between Turkey and Australia.
