Written By Nick Crain | Published at June 19, 2026 The United States men’s national team will be without its biggest star Friday against Australia in one of the biggest soccer matches in recent history for the U.S. USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino announced just a couple hours before the match that Christian Pulisic will miss the contest due to a calf injury, with Ricardo Pepi stepping into the starting lineup in his place. And this isn’t all that surprising.