Christian Pulisic has spoken out about the apparent ‘stigma’ American soccer players face while playing in Europe.
The openness displayed by the United States Mens National Team captain is from a new documentary called Pulisic, produced by CBS and released on their streaming platform Paramount+. According to CBS, the documentary gives “unprecedented access” to one of the biggest growing sports celebrities in the United States in the build-up to the 2026 World Cup, hosted by the trio of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
In the documentary, Pulisic says that the perception that Americans aren’t good enough to play in Europe motivates him to succeed. Speaking in an interview with The Athletic, Pulisic said: “I hope they see some of the struggles that I go through on a day-to-day basis as an American battling in Europe to try to be one of the best players in the world.”
In the documentary, he explained that negative stigmas surrounding Americans in Europe are very real, and he’s experienced it first-hand. After the subject arises in the documentary, he says: “For sure, it’s out there. It p***** me off in a way. If it comes down to me or them and it’s a 50/50 on who’s going to play or something like that, I think it exists… I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
Weston McKennie, a fellow American who also plays in Italy with Turin-based side Juventus, also starred in the documentary and agreed with the AC Milan star’s opinion:
“There’s definitely a bias and it’s just something that you get used to. I go through it most of the time whenever I’m at Juventus, every year somehow I’m on the out and… ready to be discarded. Every summer, I am a new player coming in, having to make a name for myself,” he said.
“Americans always have that chip on their shoulder when we come to Europe,” McKennie added.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the legendary Swedish striker who is now an executive at AC Milan, also made a surprise appearance in the documentary. Zlatan, never one to mince his words, gave Pulisic compliments in the way only he knows: “You are Captain America — I don’t give a s*** what you say — you are. If that’s more pressure on you, I don’t care. It’s your own fault. If you weren’t so good, we wouldn’t ask anything from you!”
He went on to call him out for being too quiet, saying “He plays a low profile. Maybe he doesn’t see himself like a superhero — but you are Captain America!“
The first episode of Pulisic has aired on Paramount+. The second and third episodes will be released early in 2025, although no official release date has been confirmed.
