Christian Pulisic might only be 27 years old, but he could be a few weeks away from becoming the all-time face of the U.S. men’s national team. Well, that’s what former USA star Maurice Edu thinks.
Ahead of the USA’s opening match in the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, Edu proclaimed that Pulisic could be the greatest player in the federation’s history with a strong performance in the tournament.
“You talk about legacy, you talk about cementing yourself as one of the greatest — as part of our [FOX] broadcast group, we have got Landon Donavan and Clint Dempsey, two guys we continually debate about who’s the GOAT for this sport in America — Christian with a robust match right here, taking this group on a run, he places himself into that dialog,” Edu mentioned on “World Cup Now.”
Mo Edu’s message to Christian Pulisic, USA heading into 2026 FIFA World Cup™: ‘Show yourselves proper’
Pulisic has already set a number of federation information in his 10 years with the senior squad. He turned the youngest USA participant to attain 10 worldwide objectives and the quickest USA participant to contribute to 50 worldwide objectives. So, Pulisic is already arguably on a trajectory to develop into the perfect participant within the federation’s historical past.
Nonetheless, after Pulisic recorded his fiftieth worldwide purpose contribution in November 2024, he went by way of a little bit of a stoop. He did not rating a purpose for the USA in worldwide play in seven matches earlier than ending that skid in its pleasant in opposition to Senegal on Could 31. Pulisic additionally added an help in that match, serving to the USA get a 3-2 win.
That scoreless skid in worldwide play additionally coincided with a 19-match scoreless skid for Pulisic together with his membership group, AC Milan. However as Pulisic struggled to get the ball within the web for a lot of the 2025-26 season, Edu thinks that the purpose in opposition to Senegal may break the lid open for the USA star within the World Cup.
“He was going by way of a troublesome second the place, regardless of no matter he did, he was placing himself in the suitable positions,” Edu mentioned. “He isn’t shying away from getting on the ball. He isn’t shying away from making an attempt to be the man for the group. The ball simply would not discover the again of the web. Nicely, he lastly broke that drought. I feel that was pivotal in opposition to Senegal for him to get on the scoresheet.”
To Edu’s level, Pulisic had a 0.45 anticipated objectives per 90 minutes (xG) with AC Milan this season, which might’ve put him within the 97th percentile of all gamers in Serie A, per Footy Stats. That quantity is even higher with the nationwide group in 2026, holding a 0.48 xG per 90 minutes.
If Pulisic can flip these anticipated objectives into precise objectives, that’ll be an excellent signal for the USA. The USA is 16-2-4 in matches that Pulisic scores, as his 33 worldwide objectives are the fifth-most within the federation’s historical past.
Edu expects that Pulisic will add to that whole within the World Cup, believing he can carry the nation on his shoulders and take the United States to the quarterfinals.
“How far we are able to go on this match will rely closely on how far he can take us,” Edu mentioned. “He is our most proficient participant and doubtless has the very best ceiling.”
