Christian Pulisic Suffers Microfracture In World Cup Loss To Belgium
USMNT forward Christian Pulisic endured a bruising 2026 World Cup, culminating in a right leg bone bruise and microfracture during the 4-1 loss to Belgium. This injury, sustained by kicking an opponent's calf, forced his early exit from the Round of 16 match. Pulisic's post-match comment about needing rest drew sharp criticism from former USMNT stars Carli Lloyd and Landon Donovan. Lloyd stated, "You rest when your playing career is over," while Donovan claimed people are "fed up" with Pulisic's handling. Despite the physical setback, Pulisic is expected to make a full recovery by August, returning for AC Milan. However, the criticism and second injury-plagued World Cup present a different kind of recovery challenge.
It’s been a bruising 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign for U.S. men’s national team forward Christian Pulisic—both literally and figuratively.
The man dubbed “Captain America” started the World Cup not right with a left calf strain, as I reported in Forbes in June. He subsequently mustered only one assist in four games played. That included the USMNT’s 4-1 loss to Belgium on Monday in the round of 16 of the knockout stage where Pusilic suffered a bone bruise and microfracture in his right lower leg—where his right tibia and fibula are,
After the game, Pusilic commented, "I just twisted my ankle and sprained by ankle. It’s just frustrating to end like that, of course, but now I get time to rest, so hopefully it’ll be OK." That left Pulisic—who was considered the face of the USMNT going into football’s biggest tournament—right in the middle of a storm, facing criticism from two former Team USA footballers.
Carli Lloyd, winner of two World Cups with the U.S. women’s national team, said that she “was a bit disappointed in Christian Pulisic” and X’d Pusilic’s statement with this on X: “You rest when your playing career is over, Period.” Meanwhile, Landon Donovan, a veteran of three World Cups for the USMNT, indicated the following on his “Unfiltered” podcast this week: "I speak to people who are at U.S. Soccer, I speak to his sponsors, I speak to his teammates, I speak to the staff and the coaches. People are fed up with the way things are handled around him." Speaking of unfiltered, Donovan also noted about Pusilic’s injury situation, “You would have had to f***ing drag me off the field.” And by the way, the f-word that Donovan used wasn’t “fruitcaking.”
Pulisic’s leg seemed to go from right to wrong in the 52nd minute of the game against Belgium. At the time, the U.S. was trailing only 2-1, still within striking distance for the USMNT’s main striker. But when Pusilic took a shot at the edge of the penalty box, he ended up kicking the back of Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans’ calf. That resulted in basically a kick to Pusilic shins or shin.
The resulting force led to a twist in Pusilic’s ankle and knee and thus his fortunes. Pulisic fell to the turf for a short bit. But after he got up and tried to continue playing, it was clear that his right leg injury had left him hobbled and in pain. Seven minutes of game time later, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino apparently decided that Pusilic was not right and sent in Sebastian Berhalter as a replacement. Soon thereafter, Belgium tallied its third goal after U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese made a big oopsy.
A bone bruise, otherwise known as a bone contusion, is when some kind of trauma damages the small blood vessels that supply blood to a bone. Blood and fluid then leaks out and pools in the bone. The bone then reacts with inflammation. Symptoms can include pain, tenderness, swelling and stiffness in the affected area.
Treatment of a bone bruise is basically RICE. No, not the stuff that is at the bottom of your bibimbap but rest, ice, compression and elevation. It can take anywhere from four weeks to a few months to fully heal from a bone bruise, depending on its location and severity.
A microfracture is a term used to describe—not surprisingly—a very small, hairline crack in a bone. That’s because “micro” means very small, as in microscope, microthong or Micropachycephalosaurus hongtuyanensis. And fracture means fracture or a crack. Such fractures typically don’t require surgery unless there is a bigger fracture too with fragments of the bone somehow displaced or adjoining structures are damaged in ways that need repair. RICE is also the treatment for a microfracture along with physical therapy. The person may have to remain non-weight bearing for a bit to allow the microfracture to heal. Puslic is expected to return to the picth sometime in August. That would be in time for him to rejoing AC Milan for their game at Torino on August 23.
These right leg injuries probably won’t have any impact on Pusilic’s playing in the long run as he’s expected to fully recover and become right in a few months. Recovering from the 2026 FIFA World Cup may be a different story, though. This was Pusilic’s second World Cup marred by injury. And getting criticized as Pusilic has—rightly or wrongly—can add injury to injury.