Landon Donovan didn't just rip Christian Pulisic for USMNT loss, he took it one step further

Criticism can often be louder than praise, and USMNT leader Christian Pulisic is finding that out in full force after the team's exit from the 2026 World Cup. While the U.S. men's national team impressed throughout much of the early stages of the tournament, their 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16 has sparked widespread debate about the result. More specifically, it's led to several former players offering various strong responses to Pulisic's post-match comments about "rest" and the injuries that sidelined him during the group stage and led to an early exit in the Belgium loss.

Among those to speak out the loudest is former USMNT star and current World Cup announcer/analyst Landon Donovan. While Donovan had some strong words for Pulisic after he was removed from the game against Belgium, it went one step further during an episode of Unfiltered Soccer. Donovan specifically called out the way things are "handled around" Pulisic, and how those around him "treat people."

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"One of the biggest problems - I speak to people who are at U.S. Soccer. I speak to his sponsors. I speak to his teammates. I speak to the staff and the coaches. People are fed up with the way things are handled around him," Donovan said of Pulisic. "And it's not necessarily him, but it's his agents, his family, his hangers-on, the people who are influencing. People are fed up with it."

"They treat people poorly. They do things poorly. It's always a 'no' whenever you wanna ask, 'Can we do an interview?' It's always a 'No, you can't get near him.' He doesn't say hi to the commentators who do all the games all the time when they walk by. All the other guys come over and shake hands ... There's just this sense about him that you can't get near him. And I actually don't think it's from him. I think it's from I think it's from the people around him."

Landon's message to Christian Pulisic:

"This is an opportunity to help and to change your life forever. One of the biggest problems - I speak to people who are at U.S. Soccer. I speak to his sponsors. I speak to his teammates. I speak to the staff and the coaches. People are fed… pic.twitter.com/CJtGuT1JI9

— Unfiltered Soccer (@UnfilteredSoccr) July 8, 2026

Donovan went on to state that Pulisic needs to "man up" and tell the people around him that it's "not helping." While the former USMNT star didn't point the finger directly at Pulisic for all of this, he was direct in stating his feelings on the situation as a whole, and also had strong comments on the 27-year-old leaving the game vs. Belgium due to an injury.

Landon Donovan on Christian Pulisic's exit during USMNT's loss to Belgium

Although the aforementioned criticism was noteworthy, Donovan's comments about Pulisic being taken off due to injury in the USMNT's loss to Belgium were far more direct. Donovan directly said that you would have had to "[expletive] drag me off the field" to come out during a knockout game at the World Cup.

"The reality is, Tim, he came out of a World Cup knockout game at home with his leg still intact," Donovan said. "I'm saying this to you, Tim, and you know it because you've played with me, you would've had to fucking drag me off the field. And I would've punched the doctor in the face and said, 'You're not taking me off the field. Put whatever you need to put in me, and I'm staying on the field.'"

"I told you this before, I never shared this publicly until a few months ago, I played with a torn hamstring against Ghana after the Algeria game. Nobody knew about it. I didn't have to tell anyone. There was no drama around it. I just did it."

Landon says you would've had to drag him off the field in a World Cup knockout game.

"The reality is, Tim, [Pulisic] came out of a World Cup knockout game at home with his leg still intact. I'm saying this to you, Tim, and you know it because you've played with me, you would've… pic.twitter.com/YWnQIFXNT2

— Unfiltered Soccer (@UnfilteredSoccr) July 8, 2026

Donovan did add that if Pulisic's injury had been severe, that would be a different story. Regardless, it's apparent that Donovan is among those who have been critical of Pulisic not only for his on-field play at the World Cup, including injuries, but also for certain topics that go beyond that. And it's not only former USMNT players, but also a few former USWNT stars.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Landon Donovan didn't just rip Christian Pulisic for USMNT loss, he took it one step further