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USMNT Shares Why Christian Pulisic Is Not Playing vs. Japan Friday
The U.S. men’s national team gets a major tune-up for this winter’s World Cup on Friday morning, when it faces Japan in a friendly. The biggest name on this year’s USMNT squad, Christian Pulisic, is nowhere to be found on the team’s roster for the match.
Minutes after posting Friday’s lineup, the official USMNT Twitter account shared an update on Pulisic’s status during this crucial point in World Cup preparation.
“Christian Pulisic is off today’s roster because of a knock he took in training earlier this week,” the team said. “He will be evaluated day-to-day for his availability to play against Saudi Arabia on Sept. 27 in Murcia, Spain.”
Steven Goff of The Washington Post reported that Pulisic would be in the lineup if Friday were a World Cup match, but the team is taking precautions as it is a friendly.
The USMNT kicks off against Japan in Düsseldorf, Germany at 8:26 a.m. ET. The team will take on Saudi Arabia next Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET, before opening World Cup play on Nov. 21 against Wales.
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Dan Lyons is a staff writer and editor at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI for his second stint in November 2024 after a season as senior college football writer at Athlon Sports and previous three-year run at SI as a writer and editor for the Breaking and Trending News team. When he’s not watching a game, you can find Dan at an indie concert venue or movie theater. Dan has a bachelor’s degree in writing and rhetoric from Syracuse.