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USMNT Player Availability vs. Australia in FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage
SEATTLE – Christian Pulisic’s availability is still to be determined for tomorrow’s FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage match between the U.S. Men’s National Team and Australia, USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino confirmed at his pre-match press conference held this afternoon at Seattle Stadium.
Pochettino said he will meet with his medical staff and make a determination, one way or the other, later tonight.
“Christian is strong, with a great mentality, and he’s making a fantastic effort to be ready as soon as possible,” Pochettino said.
The forward took a knock to his left calf in the USA’s emphatic 4-1 win over Paraguay in the group stage opener at Los Angeles Stadium. In the match, Pochettino replaced Pulisic at halftime with midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, which marked the latter’s FIFA World Cup debut.
Pulisic started for the U.S. against Paraguay and helped the Americans score the most goals in program history at a FIFA World Cup match. He fed the initial ball to midfielder Weston McKennie, whose pass across the box led to the own goal in the seventh minute to open the scoring. Later, Pulisic fired a precise cross to assist the first of striker Folarin Balogun’s two goals on the day.
The assist to Balogun etched Pulisic’s name in USMNT record books once again. The assist was his third total at the FIFA World Cup, the most-ever for a USMNT player in the competition.
“We’re really hoping that Christian's going to be back to the game, of course,” forward Brenden Aaronson said earlier this week. “I don't really know what's going on in particular, but we know that he's going to give us his all to get back into the team and be there for the game.”
“Christian is a really important player for us,” wingback Sergiño Dest said Thursday. “He can be really dangerous on the wing side. We also have other good players as well that have attacking abilities. It's up to the coach on whoever plays, but we're a team, and I feel like teamwork is the most important.”
Coming out of the Paraguay match, Pulisic’s status has been listed as day-to-day. The Hershey, Pennsylvania native was seen working out individually during the portions of training open to media, both at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif. where USMNT base camp is located and on the campus of the University of Washington, where the team trained on Thursday.
The whole week, Pulisic participated in “modified training,” working out individually.
Incidentally, Pulisic missed part of the USA’s previous matchup against Australia on Oct. 14, 2025, which the U.S. won 2-1 behind striker Haji Wright’s impressive brace and a pair of assists for Seattle Sounders star Cristian Roldan. Pulisic started that October match as captain for the U.S. but needed to be subbed off in the 31st minute due to injury.
On Thursday, Pochettino said Pulisic is the only U.S. player in doubt for Friday’s clash with Australia, which means 25 players, the remaining roster, are available.
Tomorrow’s high-stakes contest features the current top two teams in the Group D standings at FIFA World Cup 2026. Both sides enter Friday's match full of belief and confidence after kicking off their summer campaigns on strong notes as the U.S. cruised past Paraguay on June 12 and Australia topped Türkiye the next day.
“We’re so happy to arrive in this moment knowing that Australia is going to be a really tough opponent,” Pochettino said. “Good players, good organization, great coach… [Since the 2022 FIFA World Cup] they were improving every day, every week, every month, every year, and now they arrive in good condition. They beat a very difficult team, a great team in Türkiye. Only we can show, like the Draw, our full respect to them, but at the same time we want to beat them. We are ready to fight.”
USA-Australia kicks off Friday, June 19 at noon PT/3 p.m. ET at Seattle Stadium.
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