USMNT WC notebook: Why Weah believes Pulisic is a top 5 winger

United States Training & Media Availability - FIFA World Cup 2026

GOAL takes a look at the big storylines and takeaways in the latest installment of the USMNT notebook.

IRVINE, Calif. -- On Wednesday, ahead of the team’s World Cup clash with Australia, Christian Pulisic’s fitness remained the talking point of the week. The American star continues to deal with a knock, one his teammates have discussed for days. Yet the U.S. also took a moment to enjoy Lionel Messi’s latest bit of World Cup brilliance.

Brenden Aaronson and Antonee Robinson met with reporters Wednesday as the Americans continued their World Cup preparations. Here are the big storylines, talking points and lighter moments from the latest day in Irvine...

USA v Paraguay: Group D - FIFA World Cup 2026

All eyes on Pulisic

On Wednesday, like all other days so far this week, the USMNT's players were asked about Pulisic. The message was largely the same: he's working hard and, if it's at all possible, he'll be ready. Still, there is some mystery over his current leg injury, which has forced him to train individually over the last several days.

Pulisic told reporters after the Paraguay game that he wasn't worried. His teammates aren't either, but they're also prepared for whatever happens.

"I'm not sure of the exact terminology of his injury," Robinson said. He's been taking it day by day, and he's not been training fully with the group yet. We've still got a couple of days to see where he's at, and thankfully, we've got a lot of boys on the bench who are eager and ready to get up and help the team with a lot of quality.

"It's a long tournament. If we don't have him back for the game, then we're going to make sure we have him back for the rest of the way, because we're going to need him. We're going to need everyone."

On Tuesday, Tim Weah further illustrated that point, detailing why Pulisic was so important.

Germany v United States - International Friendly

Weah details Pulisic impact

Few teammates are more qualified to speak about Pulisic than Weah, and the Marseille star was full of praise for a player he's called a friend for a large chunk of his life.

"Christian, to me, is one of the top five wingers in the world," Weah said. "He's one of my favorite players to watch. Being able to play alongside him for such a long time has been amazing. It's just the little things that he does. He's such a humble player. We get caught up in a lot of the noise, but Christian is amazing and he showed it against Paraguay.

"His ability and what he's able to do on the ball is amazing for us. It helps us as a team and, for me, he's one of the best players I've had the opportunity to play with. I'm super proud of him and hopefully he'll be ready for the next game."

United States Training & Media Availability - FIFA World Cup 2026

Family time

Robinson's kids were among the group running around during training on Monday. Dashing in between media members and family, the youngest members of the USMNT's entourage played children's games, enjoying every second together in the beautiful California weather while their fathers trained.

"They loved it," Robinson said.

Family day, then, was a success. Parents, wives, children - all were on hand to get a glimpse of the work that goes into a World Cup. And, for those putting in that work, their presence was a boost, even if the younger ones weren't quite watching on intently.

"I think a driving factor in most people's careers is the family and their support system," Robinson said. "Being able to see them, that's kind of what makes all this worth it: being able to share this monumental moment in our careers with our family. Seeing them also kind of distracts us from the pressure that we might face. We're just enjoying our time when we get the chance to. It's been amazing."

FBL-WC-2026-MATCH19-ARG-ALG

Watching Messi at the World Cup

Like everyone else, the members of the USMNT have been glued to their screens these last few days. They, of course, have watched plenty of film about Australia, particularly their group stage opener against Turkey. In their "off" time, the players haven't stepped away from soccer completely. Instead, they, too, have been watching the World Cup.

Aaronson and Robinson, for example, were locked in on Argentina's win over Algeria on Tuesday. They watched that game as competitors, of course, but it was hard not to let the fan come out during those Lionel Messi moments of magic.

"Watching the Turkey and Australia game, it was great to watch, because we could all sit down and kind of pull apart the game and see what we can do to kind of influence the game," Aaronson said. "I think that's pretty cool. And then just watching, like, the Argentina game yesterday is, it's a little bit of who you're playing farther in the tournament, but also the fanboy comes out of all of us watching Messi score a hat-trick. That's the coolest thing about it."

Robinson added, "For the fans watching, obviously, Messi is probably the greatest footballer who's ever lived, and he's still going, still showing quality, so as a fan, I'm sure it was amazing to watch him. That's the magic of the tournament. You want to see the world's best doing what they do on the stage."

That said, that fandom will get put aside the longer the tournament goes on. During the group stage, it's easy to watch casually, but the longer the tournament goes on, the more these big matchups become a reality.

"If we do play Argentina and it comes around, we'll all be ready to go," Aaronson said, "but, yeah, it's just fun to watch all these games."

United States Training & Media Availability - FIFA World Cup 2026

Robinson on England's opener

There are still more big games to be played in the group stage, one including a team near and dear to several USMNT players' hearts.

Both Robinson and Folarin Balogun spent their childhood in England. On Wednesday, the Three Lions will open their World Cup pursuit against Croatia, a familiar rival. So will Robinson be emotional watching them play? Not really, he says.

"I wouldn't say I'll be cheering for England," the left back said. "The boys who I know play, I'll be hoping that they do well, but I don't really have a preference for which team does well in the tournament other than us. Anyone individually who I know, I've been following, whether that's Timo [Castagne] with Belgium, Sander [Berge] with Norway, Issa [Diop] with Morocco, I just follow my friends.

"Every game I watch, I'm just hoping to see a good competitive game as a football fan myself. If we got to face England, obviously we played them last time, so it'd be a nice rematch, and a really tough game, and I'd hope we'd win that as well."