USMNT Star Gets Honest About Team Playing Without Christian Pulisic

United States star Christian Pulisic was a surprise substitute at halftime of the team’s 4-1 win over Paraguay in the first World Cup game for both teams.

Pulisic reportedly aggravated a calf strain he suffered earlier in the week during the first half of the group stage win. With just over 24 hours to go until the team’s second game of group stage against Australia, Pulisic’s teammates are preaching patience.

“He’s not been training fully with the group yet. We’ve still got a couple of days to see where he is at,” star defender Antonee Robinson said about Pulisic. “And you know, thankfully, we’ve got a lot of boys on the bench eager and ready to get involved and helping the team and with a lot of quality.”

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Robinson made it clear the team needs to think about their longterm goals and not sacrifice Pulisic’s health for what should be a win for the heavily-favored American side against Australia on Friday afternoon.

“So it’s a long tournament. If we don’t have him back for the game, then you know, we’re gonna make sure we have him back for the rest of the way, because we’re gonna need him cause we’re gonna need everyone, but hopefully we have everyone fit,” he said.

The United States Men’s National Team and Australia kick off at 3 p.m. ET on Friday afternoon.

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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 8:11 AM.