Christian Pulisic injury update: USA star leaves Iran clash after goal-mouth collision

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United States men’s national team star Christian Pulisic left the Americans’ critical World Cup group stage clash with Iran at halftime after he suffered an abdominal injury while scoring late in the first half and was transported to a hospital for further examination. 

The USA talisman suffered the injury in the 38th minute after bundling Sergino Dest’s floated header into the net, giving the U.S. a 1-0 lead. Gregg Berhalter’s team needs a win to advance to the Round of 16.

The Hershey, Pennsylvania, native appeared to collide with Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand as he got on the end of Dest’s flick. He immediately crumbled to the ground, laying flat on the turf clutching his mid-section. He remained down and received lengthy treatment from the U.S. medical staff.

MORE: USA vs Iran live updates, score, highlights

He seemed to be struggling to even stand, eventually helped to his feet and needing assistance to take steps. However, after being helped to the sideline by the USA training staff, he opted to return to the game.

Pulisic limped around for the first few minutes after returning to the pitch. However, he looked fairly sprightly as stoppage time wore on, even making a dashing run to try to link up with Tim Weah and Josh Sargent towards the end of the half.

MORE: Watch all World Cup 2022 games live with fuboTV (free trial)

However, Pulisic did not return to the field after the interval, with Brenden Aaronson replacing him for the start of the second half.

Christian Pulisic suffers abdominal injury

When Pulisic was withdrawn from the match, U.S. Soccer announced he had been substituted due to an abdominal injury, which makes sense given the nature of the play. Pulisic seemed to take a knee from Beiranvand straight to his stomach.

Berhalter didn’t have any immediate updates to provide postgame. However, per a U.S. Soccer spokesperson, he was taken to a local hospital to undergo scans.

A few hours later, U.S. Soccer announced that Pulisic was day-to-day with a “pelvis contusion” and that he’s already been discharged from the hospital and was back at the team hotel by the time the rest of the squad returned.

Will Christian Pulisic play against the Netherlands at the World Cup?

While there’s no official update of Christian Pulisic’s status for the Round of 16 match against the Netherlands on Saturday, early indications seem to be that he will be ready to play in that match.

According to U.S. midfielder Weston McKennie, Pulisic FaceTime’d the team after the match from the hospital, and claimed he would be ready to play no matter what.

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