Giroud: Pulisic Shirts Rival Messi and Mbappé at World Cup 2026

giroud has become the face American soccer long searched for, and his jersey is now selling alongside Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé at the FIFA World Cup 2026. The surge lands during a tournament staged across the US, Mexico and Canada, with Pulisic carrying the kind of attention that once belonged almost entirely to global stars.

Pulisic and World Cup sales

Christian Pulisic is competing for the highest number of shirts sold during this year’s World Cup, a place few American players have reached. The captain’s rise matters because it shows USMNT support moving beyond a tournament spike and into the same retail space as the sport’s biggest names.

American fans are embracing their own star in similar numbers for the first time. Pulisic has spent nearly a decade carrying the expectations of his country, and the demand around him now mirrors the role he has taken on for the USMNT.

USMNT beats Paraguay 4-1

The opening match gave that momentum a clear platform. More than 70,000 fans packed the stadium for the USMNT’s opener against Paraguay, and the team answered with a 4-1 victory.

Pulisic orchestrated the attack before leaving at halftime after a brilliant display. That combination — a big crowd, a lopsided result and the captain at the center of it — gave the shirt sales a live-stage boost rather than a marketing-only one.

Captain America at AC Milan

The player behind the sales surge is the same one who has moved through Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and now AC Milan. He is known as Captain America, and that label has stuck because he has become the figure American soccer long searched for.

For decades, the sport in the United States lacked a player who could consistently pull casual sports fans into the conversation. The 48-team World Cup has widened the audience, but Pulisic’s appeal is doing the heavier lifting.

That is the complication in this story: the World Cup is providing the stage, but the market value is following one player. Messi and Mbappé still sit in the same sales race, yet Pulisic’s place beside them gives U.S. soccer something it has rarely had — a homegrown name fans are buying into at scale.