Christian Pulisic’s World Cup ended with him limping off the field in the 4-1 loss to Belgium. Now we know exactly what happened to his leg.
The U.S. men’s national team star suffered a bone bruise and a microfracture in his leg during that Round of 16 match, according to multiple people briefed on the diagnosis who spoke with The Athletic. The recovery timeline is measured in weeks, not months. That’s the good news.
Pulisic went down in the first half and didn’t return. The U.S. never recovered either. Belgium poured it on, and the Americans were sent packing from their own World Cup earlier than anyone hoped.
For AC Milan, the timing could be worse. The Serie A club doesn’t open its regular season until Aug. 23 against Torino. That’s roughly seven weeks after the injury happened. If Pulisic heals on schedule, he should be available for the start of the campaign.
Milan does have four friendlies in July and August — July 25, then Aug. 4, 8, and 15. He’ll probably miss all of them. But honestly, chances are he wouldn’t have played in those anyway after a long World Cup run. International tournaments take a lot out of a player, even when you don’t get hurt.
Pulisic caught heat after the loss
The criticism started almost immediately. Pulisic took himself out of the game against Belgium, and after the match he said something that didn’t sit well with a lot of people. He basically shrugged and said at least now he can rest.
Landon Donovan, who knows a thing or two about carrying the weight of American soccer, said fans are “fed up” with Pulisic’s quiet, guarded personality. USWNT legend Carli Lloyd went after him on Twitter, telling him he can “rest when (his) playing career is over.” That one stung.
Alexi Lalas and Taylor Twellman also took shots. Both are former USMNT players turned analysts, and neither held back about Pulisic’s World Cup performance or his mindset. It’s rare to see so many American soccer icons pile on one guy at the same time.
Pulisic has never been the loud, fiery type. He’s more reserved. That worked fine when he was scoring big goals and the team was winning. But after a early World Cup exit on home soil, people want to hear something — anger, accountability, anything. Instead they got a guy talking about rest.
The injury diagnosis changes the conversation a little. Now there’s a concrete reason he couldn’t play through it. A microfracture is no joke. But the backlash was already in motion before the medical report came out, and that doesn’t just disappear.
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