Christian Pulisic Turns 19: The Top 19 Moments of his Budding USA, Dortmund Career
Christian Pulisic turns 19 on Monday. It isn't traditionally a milestone birthday, but the playmaker from Hershey, Pennsylvania, is hardly a traditional player in U.S. soccer terms, and he's certainly not lacking for firsts, moments to remember and days that suggest even bigger things are to come. He already was American soccer's most accomplished teenager when he turned 18 last year–and a few days later he came off the bench for Borussia Dortmund to dazzle against Real Madrid. Since then, he's scored in the Champions League, won the German Cup and helped save (temporarily, at least) the USA's World Cup qualifying campaign.
So to mark his 19th birthday, enjoy this list of 19 highlights from a career that's already one-of-a-kind. By the time Pulisic turns 20, it'll probably be impossible to pick just that many.
January 25, 2014
The USA U-17s win the Aegean Cup tournament with a 2-1 win over host Turkey. Pulisic sets up Haji Wright’s 55th-minute game-winner. Dortmund scouts were there focusing on Wright, but leave committed to signing Pulisic.
June 14, 2015
Dortmund’s U-17 team wins the Junior-B Bundesliga championship with a 4-0 rout of VfB Stuttgart in Aspach. Pulisic plays all 90 minutes in the final and finishes the campaign with six goals and five assists in just eight appearances.
October 20, 2015
Pulisic scores for the U-17 national team against Croatia—the other country he was eligible to represent—in their second game of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. His tidy 20th-minute finish gives the USA the lead, but the contest ends 2-2 and the Americans end up last in a loaded Group A.
January 30, 2016
A week after scoring in a friendly against Union Berlin, Pulisic makes his Bundesliga debut against FC Ingolstadt. He enters the scoreless game in the 68th, becoming the eighth-youngest player in Bundesliga history. BVB goes on to win 2-0.
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March 29, 2016
This was as big as the third sub in a 3-0 game can be. With the Americans comfortably ahead of Guatemala in a qualifier in Columbus, Pulisic replaces Graham Zusi in the 81st—thus making his senior international debut and becoming cap-tied to the USA.
April 17, 2016
Pulisic tallies his first Bundesliga goal—and it’s the game-winner—in a 3-0 win over visiting Hamburg. His near-post finish makes him the youngest non-German to score in league play.
May 16, 2016
Pulisic scores the opening goal as Dortmund’s U-19 side defeats 1860 Munich, 2-0, in the second leg of the Junior-A Bundesliga semifinals. It was his seventh goal in 14 league games for the U-19s, who went on to clinch the title—Pulisic’s second at BVB.
May 28, 2016
Juan Agudelo’s record as the youngest U.S. national team scorer is broken in a Copa América Centenario warm-up against Bolivia. Pulisic tallies the final goal of the USA’s 4-0 win off a slick feed from Darlington Nagbe.
September 2, 2016
The records continue to fall as the USA routs St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 6-0, in Kingstown. Pulisic, a second-half sub, becomes the youngest American to score in a World Cup qualifier in the 71st minute.
September 2, 2016
Twenty minutes later, he becomes the youngest senior American international to score two goals in one game with this lovely, curling finish in stoppage time.
September 14, 2016
Pulisic becomes the youngest Dortmund player to feature in the UEFA Champions League when he makes his debut at Legia Warsaw, four days before turning 18. He plays 90 and has the assist on the fifth goal in a 6-0 BVB rout.
September 27, 2016
Pulisic shines against the reigning European champions, coming off the bench to help set up a late equalizer against Real Madrid. His 87th-minute run through the Madrid midfield, and the subsequent cross, gave André Schürrle the opportunity to draw BVB level.
December 9, 2016
Pulisic wins his first significant individual honor as he’s named U.S. Soccer’s young male player of the year, claiming a resounding 86% of the vote. Jordan Morris is the runner-up at 5%.
January 23, 2017
After being pursued by Liverpool and former BVB manager Jurgen Klopp, Pulisic recommits to Dortmund and extends his contract through the 2019-2020 season. "I still have a lot to learn," Pulisic said. “I have the best conditions [to do that] here at Dortmund.”
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March 8, 2017
Pulisic scores his first Champions League goal, and it’s the series winner in the round of 16 against Portuguese power Benfica. BVB trailed, 1-0, after the opening leg and then drew level early in the return match. Pulisic put Dortmund ahead to stay with a skillful, 59th-minute chip.
March 24, 2017
Pulisic starts the USA’s must-win qualifier against Honduras and has an outstanding evening in San Jose, California, scoring once (the fourth goal of a 6-0 win) and helping to set up three more.
May 27, 2017
Pulisic wins another trophy at Dortmund–and his first major senior honor–as he enters after halftime and helps BVB defeat Eintracht Frankfurt, 2-1, in the DFB Pokal final. In the 66th, he drew the foul that led to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s game-winning penalty.
June 8, 2017
There’s no sharing the spotlight this time as Pulisic scores both goals in a 2-0 qualifying defeat of Trinidad & Tobago in Colorado, finding the net in the 52nd and 62nd minutes. Only two CONCACAF players, Carlos Ruiz (nine) and Jozy Altidore (six), now have more goals in this qualifying cycle than Pulisic’s five.
August 5, 2017
Pulisic kicks off a a season of higher expectations with a beautiful opener against visiting Bayern Munich in the DFL Supercup.
He leaves the game after 90 minutes, however, and BVB falls on penalties.
Since then, Pulisic has started three out of four Bundesliga games–scoring in the season opener vs. Wolfsburg–and started the club's Champions League opener vs. Tottenham as well, carving out a permanent place under new manager Peter Bosz.
