Pulisic Left Out of Pochettino's USMNT Squad

Christian Pulisic has been left out of Mauricio Pochettino's first squad of the new World Cup cycle, according to Fox Sports' Doug McIntyre. The AC Milan forward will miss friendlies against Chile, Peru, Mexico and Canada between 26 September and 6 October, with US Soccer set to confirm the squad on Thursday.

The 27-year-old is fifth on the United States' all-time scoring list with 33 goals in 90 caps, but his standing with Pochettino has soured since he opted out of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup to stay fresh for the World Cup. Pochettino returned to that decision again last week, reportedly using an expletive when discussing it, by all accounts a sign of how little the friction has cooled.

Pulisic suffered a leg fracture in the World Cup opener, a 4-1 win over Paraguay, and came back for the knockout stages without scoring in four appearances before Belgium eliminated the US. He was not made captain at the tournament. Since recovering, he has struggled for game time at Milan under new manager Ruben Amorim, an unused substitute in the first three Serie A matches before coming off the bench against Lazio last weekend, setting up a goal in a 31-minute cameo as Milan came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.

His omission stands out next to the inclusion of Yunus Musah, who has not played for the national team since March 2025. At 16, Sullivan could become the youngest player to represent the US since Freddy Adu.

Pochettino has spoken before about wanting more commitment from his squad, once complaining about players treating camps as a chance to "play golf and go for dinner". Pulisic's absence looks less like a World Cup call than the surfacing of a dispute that had been building since the Gold Cup snub, with his place back in the fold now likely to depend on regaining his footing at Milan.