IRVINE, Calif. – For a third straight day, U.S. men's national team forward Christian Pulisic trained on his own as he deals with a calf issue that now runs the risk of limiting his availability for Friday's World Cup group stage game against Australia.
Just as he has all week, Pulisic started Wednesday's training session in a gym in a tent adjacent to the training pitches doing individual work with a member of the USMNT's technical staff. After roughly 15 minutes, he walked out to a pitch for light work on the ball with a trainer. Pulisic, wearing a sleeve on his left calf, was seen kicking the ball with both his left and his right foot while the rest of the team engaged in a regular training session feet away from him.
#USMNT’s Christian Pulisic has made his way outside after some individual work in a gym in a tent next to the training pitches but he’s now on the field doing some work with the ball pic.twitter.com/5IjUeFOxmI
— Pardeep Cattry (@pcattry) June 17, 2026
Pulisic exited last week's World Cup opener against Paraguay, a 4-1 win, at halftime in what was initially described as a precautionary measure. The player picked up a knock in his left calf in the build-up to the Paraguay game and then was kicked in the same place during the first half of the game, resulting in his substitution for Sebastian Berhalter when the team was up 3-0. U.S. Soccer has continued to describe his status as day-to-day, which leaves him in the running to play on Friday against Australia. With one training session left before the game, though, it is currently unclear how involved he will be in the crucial Group D matchup.
His teammates took a neutral tone when addressing Pulisic's status on Wednesday, the list including longtime international colleague Brenden Aaronson.
"We're really hoping that Christian's going to be back to the game, of course," Aaronson said shortly before training began. "I don't really know what's going on in particular but we know that he's going to give his all to get back into the team and be there for the game, so we'll see. We're really excited to see what the deal is."
Pulisic's individual work this week raises the possibility that head coach Mauricio Pochettino will be forced to name a starter in Pulisic's place come Friday, with several options available to him on an attack-minded U.S. roster. While Tim Weah and Alex Zendejas are amongst the contenders, the list includes Aaronson himself in the left wing position. Aaronson got game time in the U.S. team's 2-1 win over Australia in a friendly in October but said Pulisic's status has not impacted his mindset even with his first-ever World Cup start potentially within reach.
"I'm the type of guy that I'm always trying to be as calm as possible," Aaronson said. "I don't let any of the emotions of the game get to me at all. I kind of take it day by day and if that opportunity comes, I'll always be ready. That's the kind of player I am. I always am ready to start games, play games, give my best and give my all. I'm looking at it the same way. it's a game to play and whatever role I'm given, I'm going to give it my best. It's just the player I am."
Aaronson made his second World Cup roster on the back of a strong season with Premier League side Leeds United, notching four goals and five assists as the promotion team managed to stay up with a few games to spare. His experience in last year's friendly against Australia could help, though it is likely to be a different game since both sides have different players returning to the fold after injuries all while the stakes are as high as they could be.
"I think the Australia game, it's going to be a very, very tough game," he said. "For [Harry Souttar] to come back into the team, I think in that game he was unbelievable. They're very solid, very tough to play against. We know that a five in the back with guys the size of Harry – I think [Cameron] Burgess is also 6' 4", 6' 5" – there's so many quality players in that team so we know we really have to be ready. We know we're going to have to try to break down, in moments, a very tough defense but then also be ready for counterattacks and stuff like that so we're ready to go. We're ready to try to break him down and do the best we can."
Weah previously described that friendly in October as a crucial lesson in maintaining high levels of intensity for 90 minutes, especially after a first half in which Australia outdid the U.S. from that standpoint. Though Aaronson missed it because he was warming up on the pitch, Pochettino gave a halftime talk that day asking the team to increase their levels and it ultimately showed in the second half, with Haji Wright scoring the game-winner minutes after the break.
"You could tell by the reaction from the guys at halftime, the way that we played in that second half was very, very good and now we're going into a World Cup game where we know that they're going to be very, very tough to play against," Aaronson noted. "They had a very, very good first game so we got to be ready to go and I think after this first game, we're going to have some confidence but we can't get too high and too low so we're really up for it."
The USMNT can also take positives from Friday's win over Paraguay, where many of the puzzle pieces finally came together after nearly two years of work under Pochettino.
"I think the biggest thing that he asked for was that fight and that grit and the aggressiveness and I think that's the minimum for him." Aaronson said. "Of course, there's a little bit of tactical things in position but when you bring that into your game, that's what he wants to see the most … The last game, we competed. We were out there and we were aggressive. We won a lot of second balls and I think when you can do those things in international matches, you have the upper hand, always."
