The standard is still daunting.
That matters because those names were defined, in different ways, by end product. Donovan delivered in major tournament moments. Dempsey made a career of scoring ugly goals, big goals and pressure goals. Altidore and Wynalda were classic reference points in front of goal. Pulisic is chasing them from a different starting point.
Pulisic is not a traditional No. 9. He has built his return largely from wide areas, from carrying the ball, attacking space and arriving in dangerous spots rather than living between centre-backs. That makes his total stand out.
It also changes the ceiling of the conversation. If a wide attacker is already in the low-30s and remains the focal point of his generation, the path to moving past at least one or two legends is real. Availability is the key variable. So is rhythm. International scoring records are rarely broken in bursts; they are built across camps, qualifiers, regional tournaments and then, if everything aligns, on the biggest stage.
The co-hosted 2026 World Cup gives Pulisic a rare platform: major tournament matches on home soil and a chance to add goals when attention is at its absolute peak. If he arrives healthy and sharp, every finish will carry two meanings - one for the team, and one for the all-time list.
That is the next storyline to watch. Every U.S. camp from here to kickoff can move Pulisic closer, and once the World Cup begins, the chase could become one of the tournament’s most compelling American narratives.