After a 5–2 loss to Belgium, the USMNT star vows to score soon.
U.S. men’s national team talismanic forward Christian Pulisic admitted that he “has to” be more clinical while vowing to end a draining goal drought ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Portugal. Pulisic had a blank stare after the final whistle of Saturday’s humbling 5–2 defeat to Belgium.
It wasn’t anywhere near the same as his drawn-out look after a 2017 loss to Trinidad and Tobago, which knocked the USMNT out of the 2018 World Cup qualifying early in his career. Yet, it was similar. Almost nine years on, he was more weathered, more wizened and a little less worried. A day after saying that he thought reporters in the room “want to feel the pressure,” and covered his ears at a press conference, he found himself lost in defeat once again.“We played well for big stretches of the game, but then it’s just fine margins. We have to be a bit more clinical,” Pulisic said, knowing the team must improve against Portugal on Tuesday. “Overall, it’s a tough result for us, but I don’t feel like it was a 5–2 game, necessarily. So there are some things that we could definitely take positive from it, but some things for sure we have to work on.”Christian Pulisic will look to end his scoring slump against Portugal on Tuesday. | Shaun Clark/ISI Photos/ISI Photos/Getty Images Pulisic was held off the scoresheet and missed the target with each of his three shots from the left wing of a 4-2-3-1, a shift to a former position at club level, having played primarily as a second striker with AC Milan this season. The positional tweak left him without a goal for the 14th straight game for club and country, lengthening a slump that has seen him post a single assist in 2026. In a USMNT kit, he hasn’t scored in eight matches, dating back to an November 2024 goal against Jamaica. So, he made a promise—he’s going to score, soon, after telling manager Mauricio Pochettino: “I need to score,” earlier in the week, according to “For me, it’s disappointing,” Pulisic added after the game. “I feel I can do better on one of the chances.” “It’s been a tough patch, but I feel confident in the way I’m playing ... I feel good, and I’m creating chances. So I just have to stay positive and keep going, but I have to be more clinical in those moments.” Ahead of the match, Pochettino wasn’t concerned with his most important player’s production, instead opting to focus on the positive play he has brought since starting the 2025–26 season with 10 goals in the first half of the campaign, before the recent spell. “Christian is playing. And of course, he’s not scoring; but for me, it’s not only goals,” Pochettino said of his form with the Serie A titans. “For me, I am happy with him in the way that he’s performing, in the way that he’s committed with the team, and in the time that he’s playing.”The USMNT fell to a humbling defeat. | Johnnie Izquierdo/USSF/Getty Images While Saturday was a stark reminder of how far the USMNT is from contending with the world’s best, they will have an opportunity to raise their pre-World Cup dreams again on Sunday, taking on No.5-ranked Portugal back at Mercedes-Benz Stadium., after the controversial and clashing debut of the Stripes kit against Belgium’s similar look, it will also mark the final match ahead of Pochettino’s World Cup squad announcement, expected in mid-May.While Pulisic is at no risk of missing the roster altogether, the team will need him to step up and lead by example. After losing 5–1 to Colombia before the 2024 Copa América, Pulisic put in an outstanding performance in the following friendly, tying Brazil 1–1, the team’s last positive result against a top-15-ranked nation.on Saturday. “That’s what we’re gonna do . It’s all we can do. We can take what we struggled with today, watch a little bit of video, and we’re gonna improve, and that’s it.”Ben Steiner is an American-Canadian journalist who brings in-depth experience, having covered the North American national teams, MLS, CPL, NWSL, NSL and Liga MX for prominent outlets, including MLSsoccer.com, CBC Sports, and OneSoccer.
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