Can Christian Pulisic carry his breakthrough USMNT goal-scoring performance into the World Cup?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Relief could be seen on Christian Pulisic's face after he wheeled away in celebration after putting the United States men's national team ahead 2-0 in the 20th minute en route to a 3-2 victory against Senegal, kicking off World Cup preparation. But can you blame him? In what has been a trying season for the Milan man, both in missing out on the Champions League soccer and ending the season not having scored a goal for his club since Dec. 28, 2025. When talking about how long he hadn't scored for the national team, the drought stretches even further to Nov. 19, 2024, in Conacacaf Nations League play.

Those aren't great stats to have entering a World Cup where the pressure will be immense due to being played on home soil, but to Pulisic's credit, he hasn't gotten hung up on it, saying that he isn't concerned about this drought. He doubled down on that following the match as well.

"I've felt this confidence. I've played really well in recent months, but all people care about is goals, so hopefully now people can stop talking about it, and I feel good," Pulisic said.

Now it's not something that anyone needs to be worried about, because it's firmly in the past with his goal against Senegal on Sunday. No matter what happens, Pulisic is the talisman of this team and one of their leaders on the pitch, and his performance is what everyone on the national team has expected. 

"The performance of Christian in the 45 minutes was really, really good," Mauricio Pochettino said. "I think he has still potential, a lot to improve, but I think it is in the training from day one, and I felt that was what he needed and how he played 45 minutes was the habit he created in the last week, every day training with his attitude, with his commitment, with his energy."

From the moment he stepped on the pitch against Senegal, it was clear that he was ready for that moment. Assisting Sergino Dest's opening goal of the match before scoring on his own, Pulisic's link-up play with Ricardo Pepi was great and created nightmares for Senegal's defense. His run was found, and he had the slightest hesitation to keep the play going.

Defender Mark McKenzie put it well following the match."It was always brewing.

 "It was on the horizon, and it was just a matter of getting over the line, so I hope for all of our attackers that we're able to get that goalscoring flow as we go into the tournament," he continued. 

The USMNT are at their best when Pulisic is scoring like this, and his performances are what could be the difference between a round of 16 exit and making it further at the World Cup. He's been there and felt the pressure in 2022 in Qatar, where he was the top chance creator for the USMNT with nine chances and also scored a goal and assisted two more in four matches played. Now there's a newly minted round of 32 and more games that need to be played in order to get to, and hopefully past, the round of 16. Pulisic is no stranger to taking up the mantle of being the guy for the USMNT, but he also doesn't have to be on a night-to-night basis for them to progress. The team never doubted that he'd break this spell, and now they look forward to putting it behind them.

"Any player goes through high and low mments in their career and I think that the outside world may have been worried and may have been questioning what he's going to look like and is he going to be in form but I think that Christina has shown countless times at country and club level that he shows up in the moments that we need him most," Weston McKennie said. "So he always has support from us and the team and his close people around him. We believe in him, and he wouldn't be here if he wasn't the player and the person that he is, so it's amazing for all of us to witness it and see him break that spell, but we move forward and count on him in a lot of things, so you know it'll come through when we need him."

With the presence of Folarin Balogun and Weston McKennie in attack alongside him, Pulisic has more space to operate and make things happen, and as Pochettino's tactics begin to take hold, he's someone who can take advantage of it. That's helpful, but on days like this one, where Pulisic can create multiple chances and take multiple shots, that's the recipe for the USMNT winning games that they wouldn't expect to win. For the second time under Pochettino, the USMNT have now defeated a top 20 FIFA squad, while under Gregg Berhalter, they only did so once outside of Concacaf, toppling Iran at the 2022 World Cup. Guess who scored in that game as well --  Pulisic assisted by Dest. 

The vibes around this squad haven't been great entering this break, but a page is turning. Pochettino is still in the midst of his first experience as manager of a national team, and this camp will be his longest period with the regulars in the squad since taking over. It shows in the little things, like passing overlaps and ensuring that there is cover when someone breaks forward, and that'll only continue as they spend more time together. If that continues while their talisman is also scoring and assisting goals for the Red, White, and Blue a special World Cup could be on the horizion.