Christian Pulisic is facing several weeks on the sidelines after fracturing his right leg during the U.S. men’s national team’s 4-1 World Cup round-of-16 loss to Belgium on Monday in Seattle. The injury is a bone bruise and microfracture to both his tibia and fibula, according to a source who spoke with The Athletic. The U.S. Soccer Federation has not officially confirmed the diagnosis.
The play that caused it came in the 52nd minute. Pulisic went up for a shot and collided hard with Belgium captain Youri Tielemans. He stayed on the field for a bit but was clearly limping. By the 59th minute, Sebastian Berhalter had replaced him.
Pulisic is expected to make it back before AC Milan’s Serie A opener against Torino on August 23. That timeline is going to be tight. The 27-year-old turns 28 in September and has 30 goals in 90 appearances for the national team. This would be his fourth season with Milan.
A tough World Cup all around for Pulisic
This tournament was not kind to him. He didn’t score in any of the games. He missed one match entirely because of a calf issue. Two other times he had to leave early. The U.S. started strong despite the concerns about his fitness — a 4-1 win over Paraguay, then a 2-0 win over Australia — but he was out for the Australia game and replaced at halftime against Paraguay.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino rotated the squad for the final group match after the U.S. had already secured top spot. The result was a sloppy 3-2 loss.
In the round of 32, the U.S. beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0. The big story there was Folarin Balogun getting sent off after a VAR review. The former Arsenal striker was facing a one-match ban, but after an intervention from President Donald Trump, the suspension was lifted. That meant Balogun was available to face Belgium.
It didn’t matter much. Belgium handled them 4-1. Balogun’s controversial availability didn’t spark anything.
Belgium moves on to face Spain in the World Cup quarterfinals on Friday.
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