U.S. men’s national team (USMNT) 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 [him] to feel the pressure,” and covered his ears at a press conference, he found himself lost in defeat once again.
Despite recent success and a five-match unbeaten streak in which the USMNT won four times, the Stars and Stripes collapsed against Belgium in front of over 60,000 on Saturday, shipping five in a game marred by defensive and organizational errors, including a kit clash.
“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.”
Pulisic’s Goalscoring Promise
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 The Athletic’s Henry Bushnell.
“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 [about scoring] 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.”
A Last Chance Against Portugal
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.
Likely to debut the navy blue Stars kit, 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.
Unlike other nations, he has opted to name the full 26-man team ahead of the June friendlies against Senegal and Germany, aiming to avoid player backlash from late decisions.
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.
He’ll need to bring a similar frustration and drive against a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Portugal. If he and the USMNT don’t, worries will only mount in the final 73 days leading up to the World Cup.
“We came back with a really strong performance against Brazil,” Pulisic told The Athletic on Saturday. “That’s what we’re gonna do [now]. 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.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘I Have to’—Christian Pulisic Makes Key Promise After Latest USMNT Setback .
