While the USA’s journey at the 2022 FIFA World Cup has come to an end, Christian Pulisic believes his team-mates can hold their heads up with pride at their effort in Qatar.
The Stars and Stripes finished as runners-up to England in Group B having held Gareth Southgate’s side to a goalless draw and beaten Wales.
However, they were eliminated on Saturday following a 3-1 defeat to the Netherlands in the last-16, during which Pulisic laid on an assist for Haji Wright to halve the deficit with 15 minutes to play.
Unfortunately for the Americans, it wasn’t enough to inspire a comeback but Pulisic was nonetheless full of admiration for what he and his team-mates had achieved.
‘I’m really proud of this team and how far we’ve come,’ he said after the game. ‘I hope we showed a lot of people what we can do.
‘It’s a shame because I thought we deserved more from this tournament. At the end of the day, we couldn’t get it done but there’s a lot of things we can be proud of.’
The 24-year-old was playing at his first World Cup in Qatar and will be hopeful of featuring again in four years’ time when the USA co-hosts the tournament along with Mexico and Canada.
While that prospect is an exciting one, Pulisic remains grateful for the experience he has just had and believes the group can achieve even more in 2026.
‘It was an incredible experience and one I’ll always remember,’ he added of the tournament. ‘It hurts right now but give it a couple of days and we’ll know it’s a moment that we have together forever.
‘We thought we could advance and do a lot more this time around but I love these guys. It’s a really special group that we have.
‘I never want to experience this feeling again and hopefully we have a lot of good things to come.’