Christian Pulisic Moves Up All-Time Lists with Two Goal Contributions
The forward from Hershey, Pennsylvania recorded two goal contributions in the USMNT’s 3-2 win over 14th-ranked Senegal
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Forward Christian Pulisic made some major moves on the pitch in the U.S. Men's National Team's 3-2 win over Senegal on Sunday, and his two goal contributions that guided the team to victory also moved him up the all-time lists in the program.
Pulisic finished the match with one goal and one assist, which marked his 12th time recording multiple goal contributions in a single match. Only two players have done that more times: Landon Donovan (26) and Clint Dempsey (13). The 27-year-old's two contributions brought his total to 53 which trails only Donovan (115), Dempsey (76) and Jozy Altidore (56).
Pulisic's first contribution arrived just seven minutes into the match when he assisted the opening goal of the match from Sergiño Dest. The early score brought more than 57,000 fans at Bank of America Stadium to their feet as Pulisic and teammates erupted with excitement.
“It was nice that we scored that early in the game because it gives us more motivation to win,” Dest said.
Pulisic was credited with the assist, his 20th for the USMNT during his career. He’s just the fourth player to reach 20 assists for the USMNT, following Donovan (58), Michael Bradley (23) and Cobi Jones (22).
It also moved him past Eric Wynalda on the all-time goal contributions list to take sole possession of fourth place.
Earning his team-high 85th cap, tied for 22nd in program history, Pulisic was among the 10 substitutions that head coach Mauricio Pochettino made at halftime. Recording two goal contributions in a single half of play makes the feat even more impressive.
“The performance for Christian in 45 minutes was really, really good,” Pochettino said. “He still has potential to improve, but I think it's the way that he's training from day one… I felt that was what he needed, and how he played 45 minutes was the habit that he created in the last week, every day training with this attitude, commitment, and energy.”
Just 13 minutes after Dest’s opening goal, forward Ricardo Pepi passed the ball to Pulisic making a hard run toward goal. Pulisic showed his shrewd foot skills, cutting the ball cleanly to find an angle around the Senegalese goalkeeper, and struck the ball firmly to score and extend USA’s lead.
The expert finish was Pulisic’s 33rd career goal for the USMNT and his first since September 2024. The goal ended an eight-match scoring drought for one of the USMNT’s most dangerous attackers.
“Great players always find a way to go through that,” midfielder Tyler Adams said. “For him it was only a matter of time. You could see what it meant to him to get that goal.”
Like his assist earlier in the evening, the goal moved Pulisic further up the all-time list for U.S. Soccer. He now sits just one goal behind Wynalda for fourth place on the all-time scoring list.
“For him to start off that way in the summer, he's going to have a huge summer and be an important player for us,” Adams said.