INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Ever since Christian Pulisic was just 17, he has shouldered the burden of being the Future of American Soccer.

No more weight. And no more wait.

That future has become the present. Tomorrow showed up Friday, with Pulisic’s dominant — albeit abbreviated — performance lifting the United States Men’s National Team to a 4-1 rout of Paraguay in their World Cup opener.

“For sure, that first half, coming out with that energy, playing the way that we did, controlling the game right from the start, getting the early goals,” Pulisic said. “Honestly, all-in-all, one of the better halves we’ve played.

“I feel I’ve been playing at a decent level for awhile. I’m so honored to be here representing my country playing in the World Cup, I don’t need any more motivation. It feels great. That felt good to help my team in the first half. … But we haven’t accomplished anything yet; there’s a lot more we want to do.”

The chance to lead a World Cup team on home soil is a rare one, a life-changing opportunity. And Pulisic rose to the occasion Friday, assisting one goal and setting up another before being subbed off at halftime.

“Yeah, I just got a bit of a kick in the first half, so I’m really hoping that it’s nothing. Taking a little bit of precaution today, but I’m hoping I’ll be fine in the next few days,” Pulisic said. “Just the back of my leg, sort of my calf area. But I’ve had similar things before, and yeah, I was staying positive. I don’t think it’s anything at all.”

Manager Mauricio Pochettino confirmed as much, calling Pulisic’s performance “amazing” after the attacker helped the USMNT all but ensure advancement out of Group D and into the knockout stage. And as long as Pulisic is fit and in this kind of form, they can make real noise in the knockout stage.

“He received a kick, a knock before [Friday] in a training session. I hope its not a big issue. But when he finished the first half, when he started to get cold and not work, I hope that its not a big issue,” Pochettino said. “But now I think it was better. And hope for the next game he will be available.”

The entire American soccer community will hope so. Pulisic is the most important player on a team having its most important moment in a generation. Maybe ever.

“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,” Tyler Adams said. “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.”

Pulisic is facing pressure usually reserved for stars of world football.

No USMNT player — Alexi Lalas on that 1994 team, Landon Donovan on later squads — has been under this kind of microscope. Very few have, perhaps France’s Zinedine Zidane in 1998, Germany’s Michael Ballack in 2006 and Brazil’s Neymar in 2014.

Those hosts were all far better teams than the USMNT. But the bar has been raised for the U.S. — with a quarterfinal berth widely viewed as a viable goal — and Pulisic has welcomed those higher expectations.

“[This pressure is] what I’ve always wanted,” said the 27-year-old Pulisic. “We are a really good team. We want to be a force.”

They looked like a force Friday.

Pulisic burst forward and his tricky flick between Jian Jose Cáceres and Gustavo Gomez and ensuing cross created the opening tally for the USMNT, an own goal by Damián Bobadilla just seven minutes in. His assist to Folarin Balogun gave him three in his World Cup since 2022, tied for the most of any player in the field.

Eventually Pulisic gave way to Sebastian Berhalter.

The U.S. will pray Pulisic is fit. Because if he is, and keeps this kind of form, they can actually make a deep run.

“We rely on him in big moments,” Adams said. “We know how important and valuable he is. He’s just an amazing player.”

An irreplaceable one the U.S. will need on the field on June 19 in Seattle against Australia. With him in peak form, they can make a deep run — and he can make himself an American soccer icon.

“There’s an expectation,” said Tony Meola, who captained the U.S. in the 1994 World Cup on home soil. He knows the spotlight Pulisic is under.

“This is a life-changing tournament when you play at home.”

“As we are talking right now, there’s someone who doesn’t know Christian. But 32 years from now, someone’s going to say ‘you changed my life. I got turned on to the game. I didn’t know anything about the game.’ And that’s going to start tonight.”