For years, Christian Pulisic has carried a burden that no American footballer should have to shoulder: being simultaneously the best player his country has ever produced and a perpetual disappointment for not being better. The Hershey, Pennsylvania native moved to Borussia Dortmund at 16, became the youngest American to score in the Bundesliga, transferred to Chelsea for a fee north of $70 million, and still somehow remained a figure of qualified praise. Good, but not quite. Promising, but injury-prone. Talented, but not transformative.
The World Cup opener against Paraguay on Thursday suggested that narrative deserves retirement. Pulisic was not merely good—he was commanding, the kind of player who makes teammates better by his presence and opponents worse by his movement. His assist to Folarin Balogun for the opening goal was a masterclass in spatial awareness, and his own strike in the second half demonstrated the clinical finishing that has sometimes eluded him at club level.
The context matters
This was not a friendly against a minnow. Paraguay came to MetLife Stadium with genuine World Cup pedigree and nothing to lose. The pressure on the United States—hosting a World Cup for the first time since 1994—was immense. American soccer has spent three decades promising a breakthrough that never quite materialized. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar saw a young squad exit honorably but unremarkably in the round of 16. The question entering this tournament was whether this generation could do more than participate.
Pulisic's response was emphatic. His heat map showed a player willing to drift across the entire attacking third, picking up the ball in pockets of space that Paraguay's midfield couldn't cover. His pressing was relentless. His decision-making was mature in ways it hasn't always been.
The supporting cast
What made the performance more encouraging was that Pulisic didn't have to do everything himself. Balogun's movement was exceptional, Weston McKennie controlled the midfield tempo, and the backline—often a source of American anxiety—looked composed. This was a team performance, but Pulisic was its conductor.
The 3-0 scoreline flattered no one. The USMNT could have had five. Paraguay's goalkeeper made several saves that prevented embarrassment from becoming humiliation.
Our take
American soccer exceptionalism has always been a bit tedious—the insistence that the sport is perpetually "about to arrive" without ever quite arriving. But there's something different about this squad, and about Pulisic specifically. At 27, he's entering his prime with a World Cup on home soil, a supporting cast that can actually support him, and the kind of form that suggests the next month could be genuinely historic. The qualifier "for an American" may finally be ready for retirement.
