US talisman Pulisic feeling the World Cup pressure
Christian Pulisic admits everyone in the United States camp is feeling the pressure ahead of a home FIFA World Cup, but the AC Milan forward would not have it any other way.
The US will kick off its FIFA World Cup campaign against Paraguay on 13 June (AEST), at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Australia and either Turkiye or Kosovo will be its other Group D foes.
Before then, it faces friendlies against a series of top opponents in Belgium, Portugal, Senegal and Germany.
Pulisic will carry the hopes of the co-host, having scored 10 goals and supplied three assists in 27 games for AC Milan this season, across all competitions.
Expectations surrounding Pulisic and the rest of Mauricio Pochettino's US team are high, even if it endured a dire Copa America campaign under his predecessor Gregg Berhalter in 2024 and finished as CONCACAF Gold Cup runner-up last year, losing to Mexico in the final after picking an experimental squad.
"I mean, you guys want me to feel the pressure, that's for sure. There's pressure. It's a [FIFA] World Cup," Pulisic said.
"It's not because of my position in the team or anything. I'm used to this. I wouldn't want to be in any other position. I'm so lucky, I feel privileged to be in this position. There's pressure. I feel it.
"Yes. It's there, but it's nothing that I can't handle. I'm going to attack it head on. We are as a team. I don't need to do it by myself. That's the beauty of it.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves and the way we want to perform, how much work we put in, we expect a lot of ourselves.
"And we try to focus on those things, what really matters, the people that affect us directly. That's all we can really do."
Pochettino's tenure has been characterised by squad rotation, with 61 different players making an appearance for United States since he took the reins 18 months ago.
"The competition is high, and it's going to be tough to pick the right players for the final roster," Pochettino said ahead of the Belgium game.
"It's a big job. I am suffering two months in advance."
The US lost six home matches in 2025, only the fourth time it has suffered that many home defeats in a calendar year after 1988, 1993 and 2011, but it ended the year on a five-game unbeaten streak, posting four wins and a draw in that sequence.
