IRVINE, Calif. — Christian Pulisic said he’s “relaxed” and ready to shoulder what teammate Tyler Adams called “the weight that’s on his shoulders” as the U.S. men’s national soccer team gets set to open its World Cup.The U.S. will face Paraguay Friday at SoFi Stadium just south of Los Angeles. On Thursday, Pulisic and Adams both faced throngs of reporters at their training base, a representation of the weight they’ll bear as they confront a World Cup on home soil.Pulisic, though, spoke as calmly as ever.“I feel a lot more calm and comfortable as a player going into this (World Cup), as opposed to the last one,” Pulisic said.And he acted that way, too. He didn’t flinch as foreign reporters peppered him with random questions. When he finished, he walked slowly across the field here at Great Park’s Championship Soccer Stadium, looking down at his phone and smiling.When asked if he felt the weight more now than he did several years ago, or less, Pulisic paused to think.“I’m not sure,” he eventually said. “Maybe less. I just feel like there’s so many good players around me. I genuinely don’t feel like I have to do anything on my own.”Pulisic has been the face of the USMNT ever since this World Cup was awarded to North America eight years ago, nearly to the day. He was the face of anguish in 2017 when the U.S. failed to qualify for Russia 2018. He was the face even before that, when he burst onto the scene at German club Borussia Dortmund at age 16 and 17.“I can’t even imagine the weight that’s on his shoulders, in terms of, from such a young age, he was the hope of American soccer,” Adams, who first met Pulisic at youth national team camps, said. “To step into a World Cup cycle going into 2018 and be the best player on the field at 17 years old, and be the person that they rely on — it’s been since then that the team has relied on him.“Now, we have weapons around him to kind of relieve that. But he’s a star — not just for the U.S. national team but in world football.”He was the heroic face of the USMNT at Qatar 2022, when his goal — and simultaneous “pelvic contusion” — sent the U.S. through to the knockout rounds and grabbed American attention.This World Cup, though, his second, could take his stardom into a different stratosphere.He is the face of Fox’s World Cup promos. His likeness is everywhere, from the Indy 500 to supermarkets, right next to Lamine Yamal’s and Lionel Messi’s.In a way, especially for an introvert like Pulisic, all the publicity could translate to pressure. And yes, Pulisic admitted back in March when asked repeatedly about the subject, he feels it.“I mean, you guys [in the media] want me to feel the pressure, that’s for sure,” Pulisic said with an incredulous smile. “There’s pressure. It’s a World Cup.”But, he assured everyone back then, “it’s nothing I can’t handle.”In fact, he’s been preparing to handle it his whole life.On Thursday, he reminded everyone that it comes with the territory of soccer stardom, of a home World Cup. And starring at a World Cup, he said, “is what I always wanted.”Hershey, Pa., native Christian Pulisic is featured on a Hershey’s chocolate billboard in Los Angeles ahead of the 2026 World Cup (Matt McNulty / FIFA / Getty Images)So he embraces all the attention as a heartwarming, fulfilling representation of how much soccer has grown in the United States.He gets all sorts of messages from family and friends, and even from folks he hasn’t heard from in years. “A lot of people that don’t watch me ever, and the World Cup comes around, and it’s like this big event, and you get all these texts,” Pulisic said with a smile.Does he respond to them?“I mean, some of ’em,” he said.He is not treating the moment any differently than any other game. He has played hundreds over the past decade, and some of them have primed him.This 2026 World Cup opener, he said, “has that big-game feel, for sure. But in some ways I feel a little bit more relaxed, I think, just because I’ve been there before and we’ve played in a match like this. I think the experience has calmed me down a bit.”He will try to take a breath or two on Friday and look around SoFi Stadium. “I’m gonna try to take it in,” he said. “It’s a special moment. I’m gonna try to enjoy it.”And then he will try to perform, to carry the proverbial weight of a nation.“We rely on him in big moments,” Adams said. “But that said, I hope he doesn’t feel the pressure to carry it all. Just to be himself and grow into each game. So, we know how important and valuable he is. He’s just an amazing player.”