The United States national soccer team has scored two goals at this World Cup so far.

Since they only conceded one and remained unbeaten in three games, that was enough to get through Group B and play against the Netherlands in the first round of 16 this Saturday (4:00 p.m. CET in the FAZ live ticker for the World Cup and on Magenta TV). to be allowed.

Tobias Rabe

Responsible editor for Sport Online.

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Christian Pulisic scored one goal in the 1-0 victory over Iran in the third and decisive preliminary round game.

He's the most recognizable name on the team.

With Pulisic, who grew up at Borussia Dortmund and now plays at Chelsea, soccer fans are pinning their hopes on a successful World Cup tournament before the next one is held in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026.

But it is uncertain whether star player Pulisic will sing the national anthem before the game with a view of the "Stars and Stripes" flag on the pitch.

He suffered a "very painful bruised pelvis" on the goal against Iran and later had to be substituted.

He's doing well again, he said.

"I'll work hard to be 100 percent for the game."

Even if he couldn't play, he's not worried.

“Everyone takes care of each other.

If one fails, the next one is there.

It's an American spirit," he said.

That will also be necessary against the favored Dutch.

His family name rings

The only other goalscorer for the Americans in Qatar so far also has a well-known name: Timothy Weah.

The fact that his family name rings a bell is less due to the nimble 22-year-old winger, who scored his first World Cup goal in the first World Cup game against Wales on the basis of Pulisic, but to his famous father George.

He was one of the best African soccer players.

He became known in the jersey of AS Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan.

In the national team he was denied the big stage.

Liberia never qualified for a World Cup, with Weah only twice for the Africa Cup of Nations.

In his second career, however, George Weah rose to the top of politics.

He has been President of the country on West Africa's Atlantic coast since 2018.

He saw the World Cup goal premiere of his third child – in addition to Timothy he has George junior and daughter Tita – alongside his wife Clar live in the stadium.

"It's a dream come true," said Timothy, who has had the opportunity to play for four national teams: Liberia, France (his father's second citizenship), Jamaica (his mother's home country) and the United States.

But the decision was clear quickly.

He was born in New York and grew up there and in Florida.

“I've lived here all my life.

My family and friends are here," he said.

"Of course, my roots will always be my roots, but I grew up in the United States." In 2018, he made his debut for Team USA.

North Americans with African roots

Haji Wright, who is in the US squad and once played for Schalke and Sandhausen, also has Liberian roots, as does Canada's World Cup player Alphonso Davies from FC Bayern, who was born in a refugee camp in Ghana and came to North America as a child.

Before the birth, his parents lived in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, which they left because of the civil war.

Timothy Weah never had to witness this bad time on site.

Instead, he grew up in the United States with sport, which has always played a big role in the Weah family, not just his father.

Little Timothy tried his hand at basketball and American football, but decided on soccer.

Champions with Celtic and Lille

At the age of 14 he went to Europe to a club for which his father also played.

Weah junior's career picked up speed in Paris.

He made it into the senior squad alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, two of the biggest names in world football who are still in the game at this World Cup.

But Timothy Weah hardly came to play in France.

Only six games, with at least two goals, are in his balance sheet.

Via Celtic Glasgow, where he was champion and cup winner in six months but not a regular player, he went back to France to Lille OSC - and in the right direction in terms of sport.

The club became champions in 2021 with Weah.

But that doesn't count at the moment, only "Team USA".

The Americans last reached the quarter-finals of a World Cup in 2002, but lost to Germany there.

The chance of making it that far again twenty years later is there, not least because of Timothy Weah.

He hasn't forgotten his roots and sometimes visited the country his father rules.

With the exception of a few members of the opposition, who voiced criticism after George Weah's son voted for the American national team in order to gain political capital, interest in the World Cup, even without the participation of their own team, is particularly great this time in Liberia.

And even more so the pride.

Especially the President.