Former USWNT star Sydney Leroux also takes shot at Christian Pulisic

Christian Pulisic has a rough World Cup that ended with injury as the United States was eliminated by Belgium in the Round of 16. Pulisic has taken a beating in the press since the final whistle. Carli Lloyd called him out right after the loss. Landon Donovan said Pulisic doesn’t show up for big matches. And Colin Cowherd called him “pedestrian.”

The disappointing play was more than enough reason for people to take aim at the man who was the face of US soccer heading into the 2026 World Cup. However, he saved one more tactical mistake for the press. Asked about the injury that forced him to leave the Belgium match Pulisic made a critical error.

“I just twisted my ankle and just sprained my ankle,” Pulisic told FOX’s Jenny Taft. “I mean, it’s just frustrating to end like this, of course, but now I have time to rest so it’ll be okay.”

“Now I have time to rest” sounds like an outrageous thing to say after you’ve just been eliminated. It doesn’t matter if he was just commenting on his health. So people immediately piled on. Including former United States women’s national team star Sydney Leroux who tweeted, “He rested the entire World Cup.”

Sometimes it’s just better to stick to the athlete-speak talking points. The original Pulisic clip on the FOX Sports account has over six million views. Most of the other things posted there have fewer than 100,000.

Pulisic is 27-years-old right now which would put him in line to be the elder statesman on the 2030 USMNT. That’s a lot of time for people to forget about this, but there will also be ample opportunities for people to bring it up if he’s involved in another big moment for Team USA.