Christian Pulisic suffered fractured leg in USA’s World Cup loss to Belgium

US soccer star Christian Pulisic has sustained a fractured right leg during the team's World Cup defeat to Belgium, an injury expected to sideline him for several weeks. An anonymous source, whose information was first reported by The Athletic, confirmed Thursday that Pulisic suffered a bone bruise and a microfracture to both his tibia and fibula. The US Soccer Federation has yet to officially announce the diagnosis. The injury occurred in the 52nd minute of Monday's 4-1 round-of-16 loss in Seattle, when Pulisic collided with Belgium captain Youri Tielemans while attempting a shot. He remained on the field briefly but was visibly hobbling, leading to his substitution in the 59th minute by Sebastian Berhalter. Pulisic is anticipated to return to training before AC Milan's Serie A season opener against Torino on August 23. His World Cup campaign saw him fail to score, miss one match due to a calf injury, and exit two others early. The 27-year-old, who is set to turn 28 in September and has 30 goals in 90 international appearances, is due to begin his fourth season with AC Milan. The US had started the World Cup in fine from despite concerns over Pulisic’s fitness. He was replaced at halftime of their opening 4-1 win over Paraguay due to a calf issue and went on to miss their 2-0 win against Australia. Mauricio Pochettino then opted to rotate his squad for the final group game after securing top spot, as the US slumped to a 3-2 defeat. In the Round of 32, USA picked up a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, but star striker Folarin Balogun was sent off following a VAR review. The former Arsenal striker was due to serve a one-match ban, but following an intervention from US president Donald Trump, his ban was suspended, meaning he was available to play in the last-16 against Belgium. Balogun’s controversial inclusion in USA’s team to face Belgium failed to inspire the World Cup co-hosts as they slipped to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of their European opponents. Belgium are now due to face Spain the World Cup quarterfinals on Friday.