Houston FIFA Fan Festival reopens Thursday as final matches get underway

U.S. star Christian Pulisic fractured his right leg during the Americans' World Cup loss to Belgium and will be sidelined for several weeks.

Pulisic has a bone bruise and a microfracture of his tibia and fibula, the U.S. Soccer Federation said Thursday. The diagnosis was made after an X-ray and MRI on Tuesday.

He would not have been able to play during the remainder of the tournament had the U.S. advanced.

Pulisic is expected to resume training before AC Milan's Serie A opener at Torino on Aug. 23.

WORLD CUP COVERAGE HERE

Pulisic hit a leg of Belgium captain Youri Tielemans while attempting a shot in the 52nd minute of Monday's 4-1 round-of-16 loss at Seattle. He remained in the game but was hobbling and Sebastian Berhalter replaced him in the 59th minute.

Pulisic failed to score in the World Cup, missing one of the Americans' five matches because of a calf injury and leaving two other games early. He has 30 goals in 90 international appearances.

Pulisic, who turns 28 in September, is entering his fourth season with Milan.

FIFA said Tuesday it is investigating an incident involving streamer and YouTuber IShowSpeed with a fan in the stands during the World Cup match between Argentina and Cape Verde on Friday.

IShowSpeed was livestreaming the game and could be heard asking a fan in an Argentina jersey what was being said toward him. The fan speaking Spanish appeared to tell IShowSpeed, who is Black, to "go cry to the zoo."

"FIFA strongly condemns racism, hate and discrimination in all forms," the soccer body said in a statement. "These actions have no place in football, at the FIFA World Cup, or anywhere in society. ... The FIFA World Cup is a celebration of unity, diversity and respect. It brings together people, cultures and communities from around the world, and anyone who acts in a manner that undermines these values is not welcome in our game."

Messages sent to IShowSpeed and publicists seeking comment were not immediately returned.

IShowSpeed, a 21-year-old American, has more than 50 million YouTube subscribers, 45 million Instagram followers, and 47 million on TikTok.

Two staff members of the U.S. soccer team were suspended by FIFA from Monday's round of 16 game against Belgium.

FIFA did not explain why it imposed the discipline on team manager Sam Zapatka and U.S. Soccer Federation vice president of security Frank Pannell.

The USSF did not give a reason on Tuesday other than to say it was not related to the successful effort to have forward Folarin Balogun's one-game red-card suspension lifted.

Zapatka has been the team's administrative manager since 2020 and has worked for the USSF since 2015.

The U.S. was eliminated from the World Cup with a 4-1 loss to Belgium.

Fans hoping to watch Tuesday's World Cup matches at Houston's FIFA Fan Festival will be unable to do so due to weather.

According to FIFA World Cup 26 Houston, the festival closed early Tuesday "due to continued weather conditions."

The festival will reopen Thursday, July 9, at 1:30 p.m.