{"id":248051,"date":"2026-06-13T05:49:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T05:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/13\/got-that-call-from-trump-and-started-playing-like-messi-fans-left-stunned-by-27-year-old-usmnt-star-in-4-1-win-in-fifa-world-cup\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T05:49:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T05:49:53","slug":"got-that-call-from-trump-and-started-playing-like-messi-fans-left-stunned-by-27-year-old-usmnt-star-in-4-1-win-in-fifa-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/13\/got-that-call-from-trump-and-started-playing-like-messi-fans-left-stunned-by-27-year-old-usmnt-star-in-4-1-win-in-fifa-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cGot that call from Trump and started playing like Messi\u201d &#8211; Fans left stunned by 27-year-old USMNT star in 4-1 win in FIFA World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5178808\" data-slug-id=\"2794444\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Fans drew parallels with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/lionel-messi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Lionel Messi<\/a> as attacker Christian Pulisic inspired 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosts USA to a comfortable 4-1 win over Paraguay in Los Angeles on Friday (June 12).<\/p>\n<p>After playing a key role in the move leading to Paraguay midfielder Damian Bobadilla beating his own goalkeeper in the seventh minute, the 27-year-old Pulisic set up Folarin Balogun 24 minutes later.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Just before the half drew to a close, Balogun scored his second of the game before Julio Enciso &#8211; assisted by half-time subsitute Maur\u00edcio &#8211; reduced arrears for Paraguay. However, Giovanni Reyna restored the USNMT&#8217;s three-goal lead in the 98th minute to make it a winning start to a World Cup campaign for his team for the first time in 12 years.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Fans hailed the performance of Pulisic, especially his dribbling and directness, with some comparing him with Messi.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Pulisic has always been a baller icl. His dribbling and directness is good, always been a decent finisher too,&#8221; one tweeted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Pulisic still got it ,can\u2019t believe Chelsea sold him for mudrky \ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d,&#8221; commented another.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Paraguay fans watching pulisic turn into prime messi,&#8221; one wrote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Pulisic is playing like he wants Trump to acknowledge him,&#8221; another posted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Pulisic got that call from Trump and started playing like Messi,&#8221; one tweeted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Pulisic when he hears the American anthem,&#8221; another posted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Pulisic is taking souls,&#8221; one observed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Top of Group D after their opening win, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/usa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Mauricio Pochettino&#8217;s side<\/a> next take on Australia on Friday (June 19) in Seattle, with another win likely sealing their place in the knockouts.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>&#8220;Lionel Messi is fully capable of winning it again&#8221; &#8211; Ousmane Dembele on 2022 FIFA World Cup winner<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"image\"><noscript><\/noscript><img class=\"lazy-img\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1543\" data-img=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/06\/24f73-17813216761177-1920.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/06\/24f73-17813216761177-1920.jpg?w=190 190w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/06\/24f73-17813216761177-1920.jpg?w=720 720w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/06\/24f73-17813216761177-1920.jpg?w=640 640w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/06\/24f73-17813216761177-1920.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/06\/24f73-17813216761177-1920.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/06\/24f73-17813216761177-1920.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/06\/24f73-17813216761177-1920.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/06\/24f73-17813216761177-1920.jpg 1920w\" alt=\"Argentina Training - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Source: Getty\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/06\/24f73-17813216761177-1920.jpg?w=640\" bad-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,&lt;svg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%201920%201543%22&gt;&lt;\/svg&gt;\"\/><figcaption>Argentina Training &#8211; FIFA World Cup 2026 &#8211; Source: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Paris Saint-Germain winger Ousmane Dembele said that his former club teammate Lionel Messi&#8217;s chances of winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup shouldn&#8217;t be ignored after his triumph with Argentina in Qatar four years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Lionel Scaloni&#8217;s side could once again meet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/ousmane-dembele\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Dembele<\/a>&#8216;s France in the title match next month if both teams win their respective groups. At Qatar 2022, Messi and Co. had beaten Les Bleus on penalties following a 3-3 draw after extra time.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;He is the best I&#8217;ve ever seen, the best that has ever been seen in football,&#8221; Dembele said (via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goal.com\/en-in\/lists\/world-cup-news-ousmane-dembele-lionel-messi-argentina-france-favorites\/blt5f7cc8134f8608b1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">GOAL<\/a>). <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;He remains incredibly dangerous. It&#8217;s difficult to stop him even at 38 (39). He might be that age, but he will always have those qualities. We will have to be careful with him because he is fully capable of winning it again.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While Argentina commence their FIFA World Cup title defence against Algeria in Group J in Kansas City on Tuesday (June 16), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/france-football\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">France<\/a> get going on the same day in Group I against Senegal in New Jersey.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Bhargav<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/football\/news-got-call-trump-started-playing-like-messi-fans-left-stunned-27-year-old-usmnt-star-4-1-win-fifa-world-cup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fans drew parallels with Lionel Messi as attacker Christian Pulisic inspired 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosts USA to a comfortable 4-1 win over Paraguay in Los Angeles on Friday (June 12). After playing a key role in the move leading to Paraguay midfielder Damian Bobadilla beating his own goalkeeper in the seventh minute, the 27-year-old [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":248052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-248051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}