US soccer star Christian Pulisic fractured right leg in World Cup loss to Belgium
U.S. soccer star Christian Pulisic sustained a microfracture and bone bruise in his right leg during the World Cup loss to Belgium earlier this week, the team announced on Thursday.
In a post on X, the U.S. men's national team wrote that Pulisic was "diagnosed with a microfracture and bone bruise of the tibia/fibula in his right leg suffered during the match against Belgium."
Pulisic plays professionally for Italian club AC Milan and the injury may impact the team's opening games next month.
"U.S. Soccer and AC Milan will be collaborating on his recovery plan," the USMNT said as Pulisic is sidelined for the coming weeks.
Pulisic is entering his fourth season with AC Milan and will be expected to return to training before the club's Serie A opener at Torino on Aug. 23, according to the Associated Press.
Earlier in the tournament, the U.S. men's team captain dealt with a lingering left calf injury that he sustained in training.
The star right winger played in the first half of the team's World Cup opening 4-1 win over Paraguay and secured one goal and one assist before coming off at halftime due to the leg injury.
He sat out from the group stage match against Australia and returned to the pitch as a substitute in the second half of the following USMNT game against Turkey.
The U.S. men's impressive World Cup run came to a close on July 6, after a 4-1 loss to Belgium at Seattle Stadium.
Two days after the team was eliminated, Pulisic posted about the elimination from his second World Cup tournament on Instagram.
"Tough to find the words. I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who believed. The support carried us all the way through," the 27-year-old wrote in the caption alongside a photo of him on the World Cup pitch.
"It simply wasn’t good enough from us in the end and I wanted to deliver so much more.. I still feel blessed to be a part of this team. The memories this summer will last a lifetime. It’s just the start for us and for this sport in America," he said.
