U.S. may not have Christian Pulisic for World Cup challenge vs. pesky, physical Australia

SEATTLE - It was one of those glorious days in the Pacific Northwest, sunny and warm and clear, when you forget the reason why everything is so green.

The U.S. men's national soccer team trained Thursday morning at the University of Washington, with the lake glistening behind one goal, with trees swaying in the breeze, with float planes flying overhead, with snow-capped Mount Rainier rising majestically in the distance.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino was so impressed, he walked up the grass slope backing the field and took a panoramic video with his phone.

All was well, and it wasn't.

Players walked off the bus to cheers from a rapidly expanding fanbase, still giddy from last Friday's 4-1 World Cup opening victory against Paraguay. But as they jogged into the pristine grass of Husky Soccer Stadium for their final workout before Friday's noon kickoff against Australia at nearby Lumen Field, Christian Pulisic remained conspicuously absent.

Media was shooed out 15 minutes later, so it's possible the star forward emerged from the training room and practiced without bother from the injured left calf that forced his removal at halftime last week.

But the overarching sense was that he is running out of time, darkening the skies ahead of a Group D encounter that one American pundit called a “layup" when the draw was unveiled in December (Australia is appreciative for the bulletin board material).

"We’ll see," Pochettino said, unconvincingly. "I think at the moment if he is not available for (Friday), he will be available for the next game."

Pulisic said after the Paraguay game that the halftime substitution was "a bit of a precaution" and "I don't think it's anything at all." But he has yet to be a full participant in training and hasn't been made available to the media all week.

And the last time they played Australia, a 2-1 U.S. win in October in a rough-and-tumble friendly that Pochettino called "not friendly," Pulisic left with a hamstring injury after a hard tackle by defender Jason Geria.

Former San Diego Chargers physician David Chao, who comments on high-profile sports injuries on social media, raised alarms about his chances of playing Friday as more details about the injury leaked out - that Pulisic initially hurt it a few days earlier and aggravated it during the match, and that he could barely walk at halftime.

"Calf injuries are worrisome," Chao said in a video analysis. "They can linger and get worse, even as you try and play through. … I think the likelihood is that the USA team will need to be careful. Making this calf injury worse will end his World Cup entirely. Discretion may be the better part of valor here."

The problem is this: The U.S. with and without Pulisic looked like two different teams.

With him flying down the left flank, they were vibrant and dangerous in attack. He created the first two goals, and the Yanks led 3-0 at intermission.

Without him, they played to a 1-1 score in the second half against an overmatched opponent, and the U.S. goal came after the referee allowed the match to extend past the announced seven minutes of stoppage time.

Against Paraguay, Pochettino inserted central midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and pushed Malik Tillman forward into Pulisic's role. He has several other options, though, between Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Alejandro Zendejas, Haji Wright and Brenden Aaronson.

It all adds to the intrigue of a match that seemed so innocuous before the tournament started and suddenly becomes, as they like to say in soccer, more complicated.

The Socceroos' motto for the World Cup is "Mission to Wreck," and they did just that in a 2-0 shocker in their opener against heavily favored Turkey on Saturday in Vancouver, B.C., after the Turkish captain predicted they would "dominate … because we have more qualities and a more talented team."

The Aussies present a different tactical predicament than Paraguay, which defended in a mid-block that Pochettino's team exploited with a high press and balls in behind. Instead, they'll face a five-man back line with 6-foot-3, 6-4 and 6-6 central defenders aligned in a low block that patiently absorbs pressure - they had just 37% possession against Turkey - in hopes of launching counterattacks with its speedy front line of African immigrants.

"They're a physical opponent, a lot of fast players, big players, strong players as well," U.S. winger Sergiño Dest said. "It will be a different type of game, a difficult game. Australia is someone you shouldn't underestimate.

"If they drop back all the time and defend in a low block, it's never easy to score against that. Sometimes you leave spaces open, and if they get the ball, they will have space to do the transition."

Different styles, but similar challenges.

The Socceroos are also fretting over a calf injury to a key attacker (Mohamed Toure hobbled off in the 74th minute) and the pitfalls of overconfidence after an impressive opening performance.

"We need to recover (physically)," coach Tony Popovic said in the glow of Saturday's victory, "but also emotionally we need to recover because our young guys would never have experienced something like this."

Likewise, expectations of a skeptical U.S. fan base went from zero to 100 mph in the space of four goals - their most in World Cup history - and 90 minutes last week. The telecast set soccer viewership records. Tickets at Lumen Field on FIFA's official resale site for Friday's game were selling for $2,000-plus.

History suggests a tug on the reins. The last time the Yanks scored three goals in the first half of a World Cup match, in the 2002 opener against Portugal, they managed just two over the next 2½ matches and barely survived the group stage.

And with a full week between matches in an expanded tournament instead of the usual three or four days, it makes riding a wave of emotion a trickier proposition.

"The challenge now," Pochettino said, "is to keep that level that was so high."

Added midfielder Cristian Roldan, who played a year of college soccer at Washington and the past 11 with the Seattle Sounders: "We're all aware of it, we all have social media. We constantly have the TV on watching the other games, and naturally, on Fox Sports, they're talking about the U.S.

"But look, we're grounded. We understand it was just one game. But what excites me is the entire world, the entire nation, is behind us. I think they enjoyed watching us play. (Now) we have to build off it. That's the truth. We can't just talk about it. We have to show out against Australia."

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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 7:18 PM.