Christian Pulisic set to make USMNT return after battling ankle injury

After suffering an ankle injury in the USMNT’s 4-1 win over Honduras on September 8, Christian Pulisic appears to be finally making his return. The injury kept him out of action for both the USMNT and Chelsea for nearly two months, and he finally made his return for the Blues on November 2 in Champions League play. He only played 17 minutes in that game and another six minutes against Burnley in his Premier League return just a few days later.

He was forced to miss the USMNT’s set of World Cup Qualifying matches in October as well. The American squad was able to pull off wins against Jamaica and Costa Rica without him, but lost to Panama.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel spoke on Pulisic’s USMNT return recently too, saying that he hopes the United States doesn’t overuse the attacker during their two WCQ matches this month. He stated that Pulisic is still experiencing some pain and hopes that the USMNT will take that into consideration, easing him back into their rotation. USA head coach Gregg Berhalter responded, saying that their priority with Pulisic is making sure he leaves the national team camp healthy and ready to move forward with Chelsea.

Regardless, it appears that the 23-year-old will get some playing time against Mexico and/or Jamaica as he cautiously makes his return back to full fitness.

USA will take on Mexico on Friday, November 12, followed by one more WCQ match this month against Jamaica on Tuesday, November 16. CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying play will pause until the end of January when they’ll meet again for the next set of matches.