Alexi Lalas Proclaims Christian Pulisic Will Go Down As Greatest U.S. Player

The World Cup -- hosted by the United States for the first time in 3 decades -- will be here before we know it ... and U.S. soccer legend Alexi Lalas says sports fans are about to be introduced to a bunch of new stars!

"Yes [there will be stars born] by the end of the tournament," the U.S. soccer great told Babcock from the TMZ Sports newsroom this week, ahead of the FIFA World Cup, going down across North America, starting June 11.

"I think the Christian Pulisic phenomenon, if you will, 'cause I think he's going to go on and become the best male American soccer player. But I think again, I am sitting here because of that [World Cup] power. A guy like Weston McKennie, who plays over at Juventus in Italy, I think his personality is really going to be something that Americans are going to gravitate to."

FYI, McKennie is a 27-year-old player from Washington.

Alexi believes there will be other breakout stars ... "like Chris Richards out of Alabama," and "Matt Freese as the goalkeeper could be the first Harvard man."

Lalas says FOX Sports, the home of the World Cup in the U.S., will feature the players, who may be largely unknown to the audience.

The player-turned-analyst tells us ... "We will tell the stories of how they came to be, and then they gotta kick the ball and they gotta do their things in the right direction, but I think people will be interested as much in their backstories as the actual kicking of the ball."

If there's anyone who knows what the W.C. can do for a player, it's Alexi ... who became a breakout star, as much for his long, flowing hair as his great play during the world's biggest sporting event.