2026 World Cup: Now in the U.S., they’re criticizing Christian Pulisic: “Retirement at the end of his career”
The United States still hasn’t quite gotten over its elimination from the World Cup on home soil at the hands of Belgium. And, just as Romelu Lukaku, Charles De Ketelaere, and their teammates took the field again to face Spain in the quarterfinals, one man in particular has come under fire from some critics in the U.S. That man is Christian Pulisic, the Milan midfielder and star of Team USA who, however, never really made an impact in the home World Cup.
This point was emphasized by Carli Lloyd, a two-time World Cup champion with the U.S. women’s national soccer team who has since become a commentator for “Fox Sports.” “I don’t owe anyone an apology,” she wrote on X, after it emerged that Pulisic had suffered a bone contusion and a microfracture in his leg during the loss to Belgium that sealed the United States’ elimination from the World Cup.
“My comment wasn’t about the post-game interview. He skipped the Gold Cup last summer because he wanted to rest and be ready for the World Cup. In the end, he ended up resting all year. Those are the facts. Nothing personal against him. You rest when your competitive career is over. Period,” added Carli Lloyd. Pulisic played only two games in the U.S. group stage at the World Cup, both for one half or slightly longer, and then took the field in the Round of 16 and the Round of 16—never for the entire duration of a match. He didn’t score a single goal in the entire tournament.
What made the evening in Seattle even more bitter was the very nature of the injury: Pulisic had been forced to limp off the field in the second half after clumsily kicking an opponent’s foot. His exit from the field made headlines around the world and foreshadowed the diagnosis that was later made official: a microfracture in the tibia and fibula, along with a bone contusion, resulting in a layoff expected to last several weeks.
The consequences are also being felt at Milan. The Rossoneri, who had been working on the transfer market with the goal of providing new coach Ruben Amorim with a roster as soon as possible, have been forced to reevaluate their priorities. Pulisic’s injury has made the search for a new offensive wild card urgent, with the names of Kerim Alajbegovic — owned by Bayer Leverkusen and fresh off an excellent World Cup with Bosnia and Herzegovina — and Kostantinos Karetsas, a 2007-born talent from Genk who recorded 18 assists last season, both valued between 35 and 40 million euros. The Rossoneri, who have already invested about 100 million euros to sign Gonçalo Ramos and Mario Gila, now find themselves having to step up their efforts to strengthen a position that risks becoming even more vulnerable, especially if Rafael Leao’s departure were to materialize as well.
Milan will play its first official match of the season on August 23 in Turin against Torino: Pulisic might be there, but he’s unlikely to be at 100 percent and certainly won’t have been able to complete his summer training as planned. This is no small problem for Amorim, who had already identified the search for a young, technically skilled attacking player capable of linking up with new center forward Ramos as a priority. In short, the controversy surrounding Carli Lloyd risks being just the beginning of a complicated summer for the American number ten.
