On April 27, 2021, at the Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium, Christian Mate Pulisic rounded Thibaut Courtois and scored Chelsea’s opener against Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. He became the first American to score in a semifinal of the competition, and a month later, on May 29, the first to play in a final. Born on September 18, 1998, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the winger has played for Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and, since 2023, AC Milan.
From Hershey to Dortmund
Pulisic grew up in a soccer family: both of his parents had played the game in college. He spent part of his childhood in England, in Oxfordshire, where he played youth soccer for Brackley Town. Back in the United States, he came through Michigan Rush between 2006 and 2007 and PA Classics in Pennsylvania between 2008 and 2015. In February 2015 he joined Borussia Dortmund, starting in the club’s under-17 side; he moved up to the under-19s that summer and was promoted to the first team in January 2016.
Breakthrough at Borussia Dortmund
His Bundesliga debut came on January 30, 2016, as a substitute in a 2-0 win over Ingolstadt. On April 17 that year he scored his first league goal in a 3-0 home win over Hamburg at the Signal Iduna Park, becoming at the time the youngest foreign player to score in the Bundesliga. His role grew in 2016-17, when he was a regular in the squad that won the 2017 German Cup. Over four seasons with the first team he made 127 appearances and scored 19 goals. On January 2, 2019, Chelsea announced his signing for a fee reported at around £58 million, with Pulisic loaned back to Dortmund for the rest of the 2018-19 season.
Four seasons at Chelsea
His Premier League debut came on August 11, 2019, in a 4-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford. On October 26 that year he scored a perfect hat-trick at Turf Moor — right foot, left foot and header — in a 4-2 win over Burnley, becoming Chelsea’s youngest hat-trick scorer. He finished that season with 11 goals in 34 games. The year 2021 was his best in London: the goal in Madrid, the 1-0 final win over Manchester City in Porto and the 2021 Champions League; then the UEFA Super Cup in August 2021, in which he converted his kick in the shootout against Villarreal, and the Club World Cup won against Palmeiras in February 2022, a final he entered as a substitute. With fewer minutes in 2022-23, he left after 145 appearances and 26 goals.
The AC Milan years
On July 13, 2023, AC Milan completed his signing for a fee worth up to around €22 million, and Pulisic took the number 11 shirt. His first Serie A season ended with 15 goals in 50 games and the league’s Player of the Month award for December 2023. In 2024-25 he was the club’s top scorer with 17 goals in 50 matches. On January 6, 2025, in Riyadh, he scored the 2-2 equalizer in the Italian Super Cup final, which Milan went on to win 3-2 against Inter.
With the United States national team
He made his senior debut on March 29, 2016, as a substitute against Guatemala in World Cup qualifying, becoming the youngest American to play in a World Cup qualifier. On May 28, 2016, he scored his first goal, against Bolivia, and that summer he played at the Copa América Centenario. On September 2, 2016, he scored twice in a 6-0 win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines, becoming the youngest American to score in World Cup qualifying. On November 20, 2018, against Italy, he became the youngest captain in the team’s history. He was named best young player of the 2019 Gold Cup and won the CONCACAF Nations League in 2021, with the extra-time penalty that decided the final against Mexico, in 2023, when he was named player of the tournament, and in 2024. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar he scored the 1-0 winner against Iran that sent the US into the round of 16, where they lost to the Netherlands. He won U.S. Soccer’s Male Player of the Year award in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023. In 2026 he played the World Cup on home soil: the United States beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 and were knocked out by Belgium in the round of 16.
AC Milan