Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: the United States Men’s National Team is in a precarious position ahead of a major tournament. Only this time, the major tournament is the World Cup on home soil.
Following a pair of losses to Portugal and Belgium during this recent international break, fans are raising the alarms when it comes to the USMNT’s prospects, especially considering the poor form of its star player Christian Pulisic, who skipped the Gold Cup last summer to rest.
Pulisic has not scored for the USA since 2024, or for his club team AC Milan since last year, an was pulled at halftime of Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to Portugal after a frustrating first half in which he received a yellow card and failed to convert any of his chances, with ESPN givig him a match rating of 3/10.
Christian Pulisic’s form ahead of the 2026 World Cup is a major concern and soccer fans are beginning to become fed up
“The Gold Cup is useless he’s resting for the real competition” pic.twitter.com/nTXB5yLTpw
— Gravvy 🇲🇽 (@coutixszn) April 1, 2026
Pulisic with another embarrassing performance for the USMNT 🇺🇸
What an abysmal 1st half!
— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) March 31, 2026
We gotta rely on European journalists to do our journalists jobs 😹😹😹😹 https://t.co/aFZXkbeyPB
— Dom (@KnowerOfBans) March 31, 2026
Tuesday night’s loss to Portugal capped a brutal March window for the USMNT as they also lost 5-2 to Belgium on Saturday, giving the team two losses by a combined 7-2 in their final friendlies before manager Mauricio Pochettino names his World Cup roster.
The USMNT will kick off their World Cup campaign on June 12 against Paraguy at SoFi Stadium in California. Their second group stage matchup will be a week later against Austrailia in Seattle, followed by their final group stage game against Türkiye on June 25.