The term “World-Class” is an overused phrase in soccer, because the reality is this: everyone has a different definition. So right from the start, we’re going to lay down a marker and explain how we define World-Class.

It means that a player is considered among the top handful in his main position in the global game. It means the player is producing regularly and consistently, not just in occasional bunches. And it means that any elite team in the world would look at the player’s profile and think, “Wow, we’d be lucky to have him.”

No American male has reached World-Class status. A few have approached the precipice, to be fair. Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, Brad Friedel – they were arguably the closest to reach that status, but even the U.S. men’s national team’s most decorated stars have been at a level just below the World-Class level.

So the provocative question is this: Can that change this season?

Once mired on the bench at Chelsea, Christian Pulisic has rapidly become prolific for AC Milan. If he continues the way he’s started, will we look back at the 2024-25 campaign as the one in which the USMNT’s leader played himself into World-Class recognition? GOAL takes a look.