Christian Pulisic ‘feeling good’ after calf injury, hopes to play for USMNT vs. Turkey
USMNT Latest
Puppies! 'Country Roads'Pochettino InspiringPulisic 'Feeling Good'Stars AlignedChristian Pulisic ‘feeling good’ after calf injury, hopes to play for USMNT vs. Turkey
Pulisic missed the second Group D game against Australia last week but hopes to return Thursday. Jamie Squire / Getty Images
By Henry Bushnell, Paul Tenorio and Tom BogertJune 24, 2026 2:49 pm EDT UpdatedIRVINE, Calif. — Christian Pulisic walked up to a throng of reporters and, before he could be peppered with queries about his wounded left calf or his status for Thursday’s game against Turkey, before he could even respond to a flurry of “good mornings”, he smiled and asked: “Can I guess the first question?”
Pulisic, of course, knew that everyone was wondering about his injury. So, the first question: “How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling good,” Pulisic said, “positive going into” the United States’ third game of this World Cup on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles (10 p.m. ET, Fox).
“Hopefully I’ll be able to play a part tomorrow,” he said.
Although he and the U.S. men’s national team have already clinched the top spot in Group D, rendering Thursday’s game inconsequential, he spoke as if there’s a decent chance he’ll participate.
“I’ll discuss that with my coaches and the medical staff,” Pulisic said. “Obviously not a good chance I’ll go and play 90 (minutes) right away … but we’ll see.”
He returned to full-team training on Monday after working individually last week and missing Friday’s win over Australia.
Speaking to reporters Thursday for the first time since a World Cup-opening win over Paraguay on June 12, he said he still didn’t know what, exactly, the injury was. “I took a big kick to the calf a couple days before the (first) game,” he said. “Throughout the first half (against Paraguay), I felt good, and then I started to notice it a little bit, and I think adrenaline definitely carried me through.
“I just think I had a pretty strong contusion, strain, whatever you want to call it,” he said. “But yeah, again, it’s been a lot better (now).”
When asked which teammate kicked him in training before the opener, he smiled, chuckled and responded: “I will not disclose that.”
Pulisic, speaking after the Paraguay game, initially sounded confident that the injury was minor. As it kept him out of training the following week, “honestly, it was tough after the first game, for sure,” Pulisic admitted. “Just knowing that I felt a little something.
“I never really feared the worst,” he continued. “But I obviously didn’t want it to keep me out any longer than it had to.”
He said he felt like he could’ve played against Australia. “I was pushing, and I was really close to trying to be available for the last game,” he said. “… But it just wasn’t quite there.”
Playing against Turkey, whether as a starter or off the bench, could help him retain sharpness ahead of the USMNT’s first knockout game on July 1, though Pulisic said he wasn’t worried about that.
Christian Pulisic returns to USMNT training Tom BogertWhen a reporter framed a question as if he’d had two weeks off, he responded: “Two weeks off sounds crazy. I haven’t been off. I’ve been working every single day, a lot.”
He continued: “I don’t think that’s enough time to lose sharpness. I’ve been touching the ball every day, and whatnot. Like, I’m working a lot, so — get a couple training sessions in, I’d say I’ll feel ready.”
And he made it clear that the U.S. wants to win Thursday’s game, despite the lack of stakes.
“You want it, for sure,” he said. “Going into the knockout rounds will definitely feel better with a win, so that’s why we’re going to push for it.”
Pulisic trained with teammates again on Wednesday, one day before the match. The only player absent from Wednesday’s session was midfielder Cristian Roldan, who suffered a muscle strain in a Saturday training session alongside other reserves who didn’t shoulder a heavy load one day earlier against Australia.
Roldan would have been a candidate to start vs. Turkey, but appears to be questionable due to the injury.
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino is due to address reporters at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
Jun 25, 2026Connections: Sports Edition
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
