‘Trying So Hard’—Mauricio Pochettino Makes World Cup Guarantee for Christian Pulisic

Christian Pulisic will have a chance to end his goal drought in Sunday’s friendly against Senegal.

Christian Pulisic (left) hasn’t scored in nearly 200 days, but Mauricio Pochettino (right) has confidence in his star man. | John Dorton/USSF/Getty Images, John Dorton/USSF/Getty Images

With the first friendly of the summer looming, Mauricio Pochettino assured U.S. soccer fans that superstar attacker Christian Pulisic will end his 19-game goalscoring drought while wearing the Stars and Stripes. 

“He’s going to score in the World Cup,” the Argentine manager said Thursday, as the USMNT trained in Atlanta before facing Senegal in the first of two pre-World Cup friendlies in Charlotte on Sunday. “I really trust in that... He’s had a very good attitude, very good commitment. He’s trying so hard to get to his best level. I think he will achieve it.”

For the 27-year-old AC Milan winger, Sunday’s friendly will mark 154 days since he last hit the back of the net for club or country, scoring the opening goal in a 3–0 win over Hellas Verona on Dec. 28, 2025. His last international goal came all the way back on Nov. 18, 2024, when he netted a brace in a 4–2 Concacaf Nations League win over Jamaica—a night where he became a divisive figure for his celebration.

“For me, he’s a special player,” Pochettino said of Pulisic. “We are going to try in these [two] weeks  to recover his confidence, and we really trust in him, and we have the confidence that he is going to perform.”

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2025 Summer Drama In the Rearview

Christian Pulisic failed to score in the March friendlies. | Johnnie Izquierdo/USSF/Getty Images

While Pulisic hasn’t scored for the national team in 18 months, his absence from some of their most important games is a key factor in that. Last summer, he declined a call-up to friendlies and the Concacaf Gold Cup, before getting into an ugly row with Pochettino. 

At the time, Pochettino admitted he had not spoken to his star player, while both made several media appearances to defend their positions. For Pulisic, he cited rest and recovery, as his manager said, “I am a coach, not a mannequin,” when expressing frustration with the player declining a call-up. 

That saga, which Pulisic later described when he rejoined the fall national team camps as having “not as much drama as you guys think there is,” is seemingly in the rearview as the World Cup approaches—even with Pochettino still sour about his star player’s choice. 

“I was disappointed with him [for missing the Gold Cup],” Pochettino told The Guardian. “I am transparent about that. He was disappointed with our decision not to include him in the two friendly games [against Switzerland and Turkey].”

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Senegal Friendly Looms

The USMNT is in Atlanta preparing for Sunday’s friendly in Charlotte. | John Dorton/USSF/Getty Images

While Pulisic wasn’t able to play in the friendlies last summer after skipping the tournament, there isn’t anything that would keep him away from the World Cup and the preparation matches in the lead-up, starting with Senegal on Sunday. 

One advantage playing into his favor at the USMNT level is the chance to play with Monaco’s Folarin Balogun, who scored 19 goals across Ligue 1, Coupe de France and UEFA Champions League action in 2026 and is looking to be the breakout star of the home World Cup. 

“I’m confident that good things are going to come,” Pulisic told FOX SPORTS. “You make a couple of good plays in a tournament like this, and things change fast.”

After the Senegal match, the USMNT will face Germany at a sold-out Soldier Field in Chicago on June 6, before looking ahead to their June 12 World Cup opener against Paraguay in Los Angeles.

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