Christian Pulisic has scored in a UEFA Champions League semifinal and an FA Cup final. He became the first American male to play in the Champions League final and lift the trophy. At just 27 years old, he has scored and assisted more than any other American in Europe’s top five leagues. He netted a decisive goal in his first World Cup.But as the U.S. enters the knockout phase of its home World Cup, there is no player on the field who can add more to his legacy than the American winger.He’s chasing down Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan in American men’s soccer’s GOAT debate, and by any reasonable metric he’s not far behind. Such reputations — going down as the greatest of all time — are forged in large part by performing when it matters most, such as the do-or-die portion of soccer’s biggest showcase. For Pulisic, that next opportunity comes Wednesday night against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Santa Clara, Calif., and that it’s unfolding on home soil simply means “it’s magnified,” as Donovan told The Athletic.Pulisic is without a doubt the biggest star on this USMNT and the player most capable of changing games. There’s a level of expectation that falls on him more than any other player on the team. He’s expected to produce and to win games, and it’s a reality he acknowledged earlier this spring.“You guys want me to feel the pressure, that’s for sure,” Pulisic said. “There’s pressure. It’s a World Cup. It’s not because of my position in the team or anything. I’m used to this. I wouldn’t want to be in any other position. I’m so lucky. I feel privileged to be in this position. There’s pressure. I feel it. Yes, it’s there. But it’s nothing that I can’t handle. I’m gonna attack it head on. We are as a team. I don’t need to do it by myself. That’s the beauty of it. … I have a whole team behind me, the staff, a country of fans, and I’m just going to do the best I can. That’s all I can do.”Why everyone will (finally) be watching the U.S. knockout gameHenry BushnellFor the two legendary players he’s chasing, there’s a sense of inevitability about when, not if, Pulisic passes them in the annals of American soccer history. This World Cup is merely one part of the journey, but its knockout phase could wind up as a defining chapter.“I’m not worried about that,” Dempsey told The Athletic. “Hopefully people come across and break the records. You’re the one that kind of set the standard, and hopefully there’s people that can take it further than what you take it.”Said Donovan, more directly: “That’s easy for [Pulisic]. It’s all about staying healthy. He has all the ability and all the quality to do so.”Both Dempsey and Donovan cemented their legacies at World Cups. Donovan did so by helping to lead a U.S. team to a World Cup quarterfinal in 2002 and scoring that decisive goal against Algeria in 2010. Dempsey did so by scoring in all three World Cups in which he played.From a team perspective, Dempsey pointed to the impact of 1994, and the way the U.S. beat a top-rated Colombia team and went punch-for-punch with Brazil in Northern California (not far from where the U.S. will play Bosnia), as an example of what those big games can mean for the sport here.Clint Dempsey, right, teamed with Christian Pulisic early in the U.S. star’s international career (Robin Alam / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)“Who’s to say from a great World Cup here what could come about next?” he said. “We’re not waiting every four years for the needle to move for the game of soccer to grow, but obviously what you do in major tournaments does mean a lot.”Donovan pointed out that Pulisic scored the winner against Iran in 2022 and was the best player on the field for the U.S. in the opener in this tournament, setting up two goals in the U.S.’s 4-1 win over Paraguay. Still, he acknowledged that the argument for Pulisic will be aided by helping navigate the Americans deeper into the knockout rounds.“I don’t think he needs a moment, but I do think the team needs probably a long run through the tournament,” Donovan said. “He, or the team, need a defining moment. If they get to the quarterfinals, that’s a defining memory.”The path toward that “defining moment” starts Wednesday in the World Cup’s round of 32. Pulisic, who has played just 77 minutes so far in this tournament due to injury, is expected to start. It will be an enormous chance for him to add to his stature within the program and underscore his GOAT credentials. His route to this stage was delayed in its earliest days by the Americans’ failure to qualify for the World Cup in 2018. But now — at home, in these games and in his prime — is his time.Arguably Christian Pulisic’s most impactful goal for the U.S. came against Iran and sent the Americans to the knockout stage of the 2022 World Cup (Odd Andersen / AFP / Getty Images)The magnitude of the momentGoing into this summer, the images that defined Pulisic’s World Cup career began at the program’s lowest moment — the teenager in tears in Couva, Trinidad in October 2017 — and carried through to his first World Cup goal — a finish that put the U.S. through to the knockout stage in 2022. It was a goal that Pulisic celebrated upon returning to the team hotel from the hospital after putting his body on the line and being injured while scoring.He started this tournament very much looking like he was going to add to those snapshots.The AC Milan winger was flying in the first half against Paraguay, setting up the opening goal of the game by splitting two defenders in the box and feeding Weston McKennie, whose shot was deflected into the net for an own goal. He then set up Folarin Balogun’s goal 24 minutes later to double the U.S. lead.A calf injury forced Pulisic off at halftime of that 4-1 win, however, and the Hershey, Pa., native missed the subsequent 2-0 win over Australia. The crowd got to its feet to welcome Pulisic back onto the field at SoFi Stadium in the group finale against Turkey, and he was once again dangerous, even though the U.S. lost 3-2 on the final kick of the game.The hope now is that the injury is what Pulisic said it was, a minor setback caused by a kick to the calf, and not anything more lasting.“I never feared anything worse,” Pulisic said last week. “I was pushing, and I was really close to trying to be available for (Australia). … It wasn’t anything where I feared anything worse than really what it was.”That sets Pulisic up for what is now a new tournament.The U.S. players acknowledged that what happened in the group stage will matter little if they aren’t able to get results in these rounds, and they’ll count on Pulisic to push them forward. There is plenty left to prove as they move into the knockouts, however.A win over Bosnia would not be seen as the sort of history-making moment that this team set out for. A loss would be catastrophic. The U.S. would need a round-of-16 win to feel something approaching the sort of historic run they believe they are capable of putting together. But this entire group, including Pulisic, has never had a true marquee, knockout win.The U.S. has not beaten a top-10 European team since 2015. Pulisic’s biggest win in a national team jersey was the victory over Iran in Qatar and Concacaf Gold Cup and Nations League triumphs over regional rivals like Mexico and Canada.This World Cup, then, could provide that “defining moment” Donovan referenced.Last month in the Atlanta area, Pulisic said the team, many of whom experienced a knockout loss to the Netherlands in Qatar, would be more prepared when the chance came this time around.“Most guys are going to go into this World Cup a bit more relaxed, ready for these big moments, and I think that helps,” he said. “I’ve seen that so much throughout my career. Every game and every big moment just feels just a little bit easier, and you feel a little bit more comfortable going into it.”Pulisic also said the team didn’t need any extra motivation from being measured up by anyone or against anyone else. They understood what was at stake.“We want to do this for ourselves, we want to do this for our own country,” he said. “We don’t need to prove (anything) to anyone else. We have really good players playing in top clubs in the world. We have a good team. And we’re going to do the best we can to prove ourselves right, more than anything.”Landon Donovan (10) celebrates a goal vs. Brazil in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup final, as Clint Dempsey (8) joins in (Pierre-Philippe Marcou / AFP / Getty Images)Chasing Donovan and DempseyWhen it comes to the GOAT debate, there are the trophies won and standout memories and moments that carry a lot of weight. There’s also a statistical component. On that front, it feels more likely than not that Pulisic will wind up holding at least the program’s all-time goal mark.On the club level in Europe, Pulisic’s 64 goals and 46 assists across 11 seasons in the German Bundesliga, English Premier League and Italian Serie A is unmatched by any American before him. Dempsey is second with 57 goals, though it’s worth noting that Balogun is creeping up with 45 goals; while Weston McKennie is a distant second with 24 assists.From a national-team perspective, he arrives at the knockout stage with 33 goals, 24 behind Dempsey and Donovan for most all time (He also has 21 assists, 37 behind Donovan’s all-time U.S. mark of 58, which remains third-most globally behind Lionel Messi and Neymar). Of Pulisic’s U.S. goals, 10 have come in friendlies, the rest scored in Concacaf competitions, World Cup qualifiers, Copa América and the World Cup itself — by comparison, 13 of Donovan’s came in friendlies, while 16 of Dempsey’s did. Pulisic has come up big against the U.S.’s chief rival, Mexico, scoring four times. Donovan had six career goals vs. El Tri — including one in a World Cup last-16 knockout match — while Dempsey never scored against Mexico, perhaps the only glaring hole on his GOAT résumé.Regardless, the U.S. goal-scoring record should eventually be Pulisic’s, as long as he stays healthy. At 27, he will likely have another two World Cup cycles to play, which would mean eight more years of national team games. That would include World Cup qualifying cycles against smaller Concacaf opponents and potential Gold Cup and Nations League games that could add to Pulisic’s individual totals — provided he plays in the competitions.Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan after the latter’s goal vs. Slovenia started a comeback in the 2010 World Cup group stage (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)Donovan scored one goal every 2.75 U.S. games, while Dempsey had one every 2.47 games. Pulisic’s current rate is one goal every 2.67 games. If he were to keep up that pace, he would surpass the record in between 64 to 67 games, which would put Pulisic at around 155 caps.For the legends he’s chasing, there’s almost a hopefulness that it’ll happen. Pulisic has said Dempsey and Donovan were players who made him dream about getting to this level. Now, they hope he does the same for the generation watching this World Cup play out in their backyards.“I hope the younger players were inspired by some of the things that we did,” Dempsey said. “The most important thing is they do well and inspire the younger kids. My kids are the ones watching them now, so I just want them to be successful and go as far as they can go. … I know what I did, and I’m at peace with that. Hopefully they can take it further.”