Christian Pulisic, the AC Milan midfielder who had gone nearly six months without a goal for club or country, broke his drought on Sunday with a goal and an assist in the United States men’s national team’s 3-2 friendly win over Senegal at Charlotte, North Carolina. The performance provided a much-needed confidence boost for the World Cup co-hosts and their most prominent player, whose dry spell had become one of the dominant storylines surrounding the squad in the months before the tournament.
Pulisic assisted Sergiño Dest on the US’s opening goal and then scored the second himself, rounding the goalkeeper and finishing from a tight angle off a feed behind the backline from forward Ricardo Pepi. The goal sent Pulisic sprinting toward the corner flag, where he was mobbed by teammates in what The Guardian described as an emotional celebration.
The drought had stretched back to November 19, 2024, when Pulisic last scored for the national team in a Nations League match against Jamaica. In the months that followed, he went without a goal for both AC Milan and the USMNT. Lackluster performances in recent friendlies against Belgium and Portugal did little to quiet the questions. By the time the US roster was announced on May 27 in New York, Pulisic had grown visibly frustrated with the line of questioning.
“Hopefully now people can stop talking about it,” Pulisic told reporters after the match. “It felt great. I’ve felt this confidence the whole time. I’ve played really well in recent months. I feel good and now, obviously this was just a friendly — we have big games ahead and I have to be ready.”
Pochettino, who had deployed Pulisic as a center forward in March in an effort to spark his scoring, offered measured praise after Sunday’s match. Speaking to reporters, the head coach addressed the full group before commenting on Pulisic specifically. “Pulisic’s performance today in 45 minutes was really really good, but I think he still has potential to improve,” Pochettino said.
As recently as last week, Pochettino had told media he was certain Pulisic would score at the World Cup — a ringing endorsement offered to the player many hope will finish his career as the greatest in the history of American men’s soccer.
McKennie, a longtime USMNT teammate, offered broader support. “Any player goes through high and low moments in their career,” McKennie said. “Obviously I think the outside world may have been worried and questioning ‘what he’s gonna look like, is he gonna be in form?’ But I think Christian has shown countless times at club level and country level that he shows up in the moments that we need him the most. He always has the support from us, the team and his close people around him. We believe in him.”
The win over Senegal restores some measure of confidence for a US squad heading into the World Cup, which the country is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico. Whether Pulisic can sustain Sunday’s performance into the tournament remains to be seen, but the drought that had shadowed the team’s preparations has, for now, been broken.