USMNT star Christian Pulisic (calf) sitting out vs. Australia

U.S. star forward Christian Pulisic will miss Friday's World Cup match against Australia due to his left calf injury, coach Mauricio Pochettino told Fox.

Pulisic was removed at halftime of the Group D opener, a 4-1 win against Paraguay on June 12. He had one assist before exiting.

"Christian is not available. The evolution is really well," Pochettino told Fox.

Pulisic, 27, was attempting to be available for the match but missed some training sessions during the week. Ultimately, it was determined it was too risky to send him out on the pitch.

"Today, he was training in the morning in the camp and I've seen the feelings are good," Pochettino added. "I hope as soon as possible he can be ready to be selected again and to be part of the team. Now, we need to be focused on our team and the players that are going to play.

"We have ahead a very important game and Australia is going to be really tough. A little bit sad because he wanted to stay, wanted to participate today."

The U.S. will finish group play against Turkey on Thursday at Inglewood, Calif.

Ricardo Pepi, 23, will start in place of Pulisic. Pepi entered the Paraguay match in the 72nd match and didn't score.

That is the only starting lineup change from the group that began the Paraguay match.

--Field Level Media

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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 2:11 PM.