Christian Pulisic Ruled Out for World Cup Clash Against Australia

SEATTLE — The United States will have to navigate a World Cup night without its brightest star.

Christian Pulisic has been ruled out of Friday’s clash with Australia at Lumen Field after failing to shake off a calf injury, with Ricardo Pepi drafted into the starting lineup in his place.

Mauricio Pochettino confirmed the decision roughly 90 minutes before kickoff during a live television interview, drawing a sharp line under the pregame optimism that Pulisic might yet be risked. The winger had been the central fitness question hanging over the U.S. camp all week.

Pochettino had sounded upbeat on Thursday, describing Pulisic as in a “much better” place than he was last Friday and stressing that the plan was to have him ready for the next match against Turkey if Australia came too soon. That contingency has now become reality.

The focus turns to Pepi, handed a major stage and a significant responsibility. With Pulisic sidelined, the U.S. attack loses its most established game-breaker, but gains a hungry forward eager to turn an unexpected opportunity into a defining night.

Turkey awaits on the horizon. For Pulisic and the U.S., that game now becomes the real test of whether this calf problem is just a brief scare or the storyline that shapes their World Cup campaign.