SEATTLE — In the first half of the United States’ opening match against Paraguay, Christian Pulisic looked every bit like the best player on the pitch. Against Belgium on Monday night in Seattle, the weight of a nation’s expectations finally looked too heavy to bear.

The U.S. needed their star to produce another signature World Cup moment. Instead, the sellout crowd at Lumen Field watched their brightest star endure perhaps the most difficult 59 minutes of his international career before limping off the field in visible pain.

From the opening whistle, Belgium looked like the better side, and their strategy of not allowing Pulisic to breathe, let alone operate in space, was executed to perfection.

Every touch came with immediate pressure. Every turn was met by a Belgium player. The Red Devils’ experienced defenders leaned on him physically, closed every passing lane and refused to let him dictate the rhythm that had made him so successful against Paraguay, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

For perhaps the first time all summer, Pulisic looked nervous, rushed and frankly, poor.

Rather than slowing the game and waiting for teammates to make their runs, he forced passes that weren’t there. He repeatedly tried to dribble through traffic instead of around it. By halftime, he had surrendered possession 11 times — more than any player on the field — a staggering number for the player entrusted with orchestrating nearly every meaningful American attack.

It wasn’t for a lack of effort. If anything, Pulisic appeared desperate to rescue the evening himself.

Early in the second half, he finally found a sliver of daylight and burst toward the Belgian penalty area. It looked for an instant like the opening the U.S. had been searching for. Then everything unraveled.

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As Pulisic swung his right foot to shoot, his boot clipped the foot of a Belgian defender. He crumpled immediately, grabbing at his right foot. The fans thought it was a foul just outside the penalty box. When the referee didn’t blow the whistle for a foul, they booed loudly. The replays showed it was the right decision. Pulisic slowly rose to his feet with an unmistakable limp.

“I just totally twisted my ankle in that one play,” Pulisic said. “It was just an unfortunate way to finish.”

The sequence proved devastating.

Moments later, Belgium capitalized on a costly defensive breakdown, punishing a mistake by goalkeeper Matt Freese to seize the lead. Seconds after the restart, U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino made the difficult decision, replacing Pulisic with Sebastian Berhalter in the 59th minute.

Pulisic’s reaction on the bench said everything.

He dropped to the bench in frustration and disbelief as trainers examined his right foot. Television cameras caught it all as he stared blankly towards the pitch, at times consoled by his teammates. He was no longer able to help them chase a match that was slipping away.

“It sucks,” Pulisic said of what was going through his mind when he exited the game. “An earlier injury and now another. It just sucked. It was really tough. It was difficult for me to deal with it. But we have a great team and they should be really proud.”

If this proves to be Pulisic’s final memory of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it will stand in sharp contrast to everything that came before it.

“I thought my level was high at times, but it’s disappointing overall,” said Pulisic, reflecting on his World Cup overall. “I didn’t quite have the moments I was hoping to have and I really want to help push us to get over this next step and beat a really good team. I’m disappointed, but I’ll be back and we’re going to figure it out.”