Christian Pulisic Fractured Leg in USMNT Loss to Belgium, New Rumors on Timeline for Injury Recovery

United States Men's National Soccer Team and AC Milan star Christian Pulisic is reportedly expected to be on the shelf for several weeks after suffering an injury during the United States' 4-1 loss to Belgium in the 2026 FIFA World Cup's Round of 16 on Monday.

James Horncastle, Henry Bushnell and Paul Tenorio of The Athletic first reported on Pulisic's timeline for recovery. Pulisic suffered the injury when he kicked into Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans' calf while attempting a shot during the second half.

Pulisic initially attempted to play through the injury, but he had to leave shortly thereafter and was substituted in the 59th minute.

It marked the end of a frustrating World Cup for Pulisic, who missed significant time with multiple injuries.

The 27-year-old winger had to be subbed off at halftime of the United States' opening-match victory over Paraguay with a calf injury, and he subsequently missed the next match against Australia.

Pulisic returned for the final group match against Türkiye, but he came on as a sub rather than starting.

After playing nearly the entire Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pulisic was injured once again in the elimination loss to Belgium.

Per The Athletic, Pulisic was seen on crutches at the U.S. team hotel on Tuesday, and he would not have been able to play had the USMNT advanced past Belgium and into the quarterfinals.

Pulisic became the subject of criticism based on his performance and comments he made after the United States were eliminated.

Most notably, United States Women's National Soccer Team legend Carli Lloyd appeared to address Pulisic after he mentioned being able to rest now that the USMNT is out of the World Cup, as he told reporters, "I just twisted my ankle and just sprained my ankle. It's just frustrating to end like that, of course. But now I've got time to rest, so it'll be okay."

In response, Lloyd made a post on X about a soccer player being able to rest once their career is over:

For his part, Pulisic did take accountability for not performing at the level most expected during the World Cup, telling reporters, "I felt really good this summer with the guys and I thought my level was high. Yeah, it's disappointing. I didn't quite have the moments I was hoping to and to try to help us to really push and get over this next step of beating a really good team. I'm disappointed with myself, of course, but I'm going to try to stay positive. I did a lot of good things and the team did as well."

Pulisic did not score at the 2026 World Cup after scoring one of the biggest goals in recent USMNT history at the 2022 World Cup when he netted the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Iran to advance to the knockout stage.

However, Pulisic looked great during the first half of the 4-1 win over Paraguay to open Team USA's 2026 World Cup campaign, and it is fair to wonder how much the calf injury suffered during that match impacted his performance the rest of the way.

Now, Pulisic is dealing with an even more significant injury, and he will reportedly need multiple weeks to return to full health.

According to The Athletic, Pulisic is estimated to return at some point in August, meaning he could potentially resume training prior to the start of the 2026-27 Serie A season.

His club, AC Milan, will open their Serie A play on Aug. 23 when they face Torino in an away fixture.