Christian Pulisic doesn’t deserve all the hate for USMNT’s World Cup disappointment

Bullet point summary by AI

• USMNT captain Christian Pulisic faced intense criticism after the team’s 4-1 World Cup loss to Belgium in the Round of 16.
• Pulisic’s fractured leg and early exit from the match, along with poor performances from other players, drew scrutiny from fans and former players.
• Blame for the USMNT’s early exit should be shared among players, coaching staff, and fans.

We believed that we would win. We set the expectations too high. U.S. Men’s National Team captain Christian Pulisic was crucified for his and the team’s 2026 World Cup shortcomings. Enough is enough.

After the USMNT fell embarrassingly 4-1 to Belgium in the tournament’s Round of 16, former American soccer legends began eviscerating the 27 year old over his ghost-like performance. He was mostly criticized for expressing he would take time to rest.

It was later revealed Pulisic suffered a fractured leg, which caused him to leave the match in the second half. This isn’t hockey, but in an elimination game where his team was down, Pulisic, as captain should’ve been dragged from the pitch instead of limping off early.

USMNT’s World Cup failure weighs on more shoulders than Christian Pulisic’s

All of that being said, there’s plenty of blame to be shared by Pulisic, his teammates, U.S. Soccer and the fans without getting unnecessarily abusive and divisive. We were excited to have the World Cup on our shores and hyped the team up for success. Disappointment is natural to feel when the talents on the roster suggested a finish better than one-and-done.

But Pulisic alone didn’t lose the game against Belgium. Striker Folarin Balogun, who was controversially re-instated from a red card ban by FIFA, failed to take advantage of the rare opportunity and was practically invisible on the pitch. The defense was caught ball-watching on multiple Belgian goals and goalkeeper Matt Freese committed a howler at the worst possible time.

Former USMNT midfielder Jermaine Jones may have put it best with his brutally honest yet compassionate assessment posted to, then seemingly deleted, from social media.

“What I find disappointing is seeing former players try to downplay [Pulisic’s] career or talent. Be careful throwing stones when you live in a glass house. Respect what Pulisic has done for U.S. Soccer and outside of America,” he wrote. “What about the other players who had a really bad day? [Sergiño] Dest, [Tim] Ream, Freese? I watched the game. They all had shockers. So what? That’s football. Bad days happen. They’ll all learn from it, grow, and come back stronger.”

These athletes are human just like the rest of us. Yes, Pulisic failed to deliver on the implied promise of exceeding past World Cup performances his talent insinuated could be achieved. But soccer is played with 11 players and his teammates — outside of Malik Tillman — came up well short too.

There’s also some reflection that needs to be done by U.S. fans. We can’t be going into games thinking we’re going to beat the No. 9 team in the world after our last four opponents were all outside the Top 20 (two of them outside the Top 40) in the pre-tournament FIFA Rankings. Being shocked and disappointed to the degree of spitting hatred and vitriol at the captain of the team is unwarranted when the objectively expected loss arrives.

U.S. Soccer still has a long way to go before it can hang with the big boys of the soccer world. Christian Pulisic and this generation were the next step in that evolution, but expecting a system that isn’t as culturally rooted and invested in the game as those that are constantly championship favorites to win consistently against the upper echelon of the sport is just plain naive.

Everybody around U.S. Soccer, Pulisic included, needs to take a long look in the mirror and figure out what comes next. More complaining? More rest? Or a readjustment that sets up a rebound for 2030 and beyond.

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