Soccer <\/p>\n
Several of MLS’s top young talents will step into the spotlight at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday night as\u00a0Red Bull New York<\/a> host their I-95 rivals the Philadelphia Union<\/a>, headlined by rising homegrown stars Cavan Sullivan<\/a>, Neil Pierre<\/a>, Julian Hall<\/a> and Adri Mehmeti<\/a> (7:30 pm ET | Apple TV<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019s an Eastern Conference six-pointer and a clash of perhaps the league\u2019s most academy-centric clubs. And it may also prove a preview of the US men\u2019s national team<\/a>\u2019s future.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Mauricio Pochettino re-signed with U.S. Soccer because of this generation,\u201d MLS on Apple TV lead analyst and USMNT alum Taylor Twellman told MLSsoccer.com this week. \u201cThis generation has him very intrigued on what it can turn into in three years, what kind of depth they can provide for a national team that lacked depth at the World Cup \u2013 because he didn’t really trust any of his players coming off the bench.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you can make an argument that all four players are in that conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n \u2018Poch\u2019 signed a\u00a0contract extension<\/a> as the USMNT\u2019s head coach earlier this month, surprising many observers who expected him to return to European club soccer after his 18-month adventure at the helm for this summer\u2019s FIFA World Cup<\/a> campaign on home soil.<\/p>\n Now that the Argentine manager has re-upped through 2030, there\u2019s keen anticipation about how he\u2019ll turn the page to a new cycle in the days ahead. Starting with who he names to his roster for the four-match international window<\/a> in September and October, where the Yanks will face Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada in a quartet of friendlies.<\/p>\n Will that include any of the aforementioned quartet of teenage wunderkinds who face off in Harrison, New Jersey this weekend?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 23, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Cavan Sullivan has garnered the widest acclaim among this group, initially as the 14-year-old phenom who in 2024 broke Freddy Adu\u2019s longstanding record for youngest player to take part in a major professional sports league in the United States and Canada. Over the past few months, though, it\u2019s his dramatic maturation into a difference-maker for the revitalized Union that\u2019s drawn the eye.<\/p>\n Pierre, too, has been instrumental in that revival. The 18-year-old center back turns heads with his physicality, towering height (he\u2019s officially listed at 6-foot-5 but appears to have grown significantly<\/a> since that measurement was taken) and corresponding aerial prowess.<\/p>\n That\u2019s only part of what has reportedly made him a subject of interest from the likes of FC Barcelona, his profile particularly elevated by a superb display in a pulsating 2-2 draw<\/a> against Lionel Messi<\/a> and Inter Miami<\/a> on Aug. 19.<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s Miami; all the eyeballs are on you. That’s a different type of team,\u201d said Twellman, who was on that night\u2019s broadcast from Subaru Park. \u201cThe moment was not too big for him. His feet are good. His pace is good. He reads the game well for his age.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso his postgame interview,\u201d he added. \u201cHe articulated his feelings, having self-confidence, but also being humble \u2013 it just impressed me a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 22, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Pierre will need to be vigilant against the threat of Hall, whose clever movement and predatory instincts in the opposition\u2019s penalty box are said to have drawn the attention of big European clubs like Atl\u00e9tico Madrid, Newcastle United and Bayern Munich.<\/p>\n With 12g\/5a across all competitions, the 18-year-old leads the Red Bulls in scoring this season as they forge into a new era under first-year boss and longtime USMNT captain Michael Bradley. While he\u2019s cooled off in recent months, his blend of potential and productivity just prompted RBNY to sign him to a contract extension<\/a> through the 2029-30 MLS season that will make him a U22 Initiative player, connoting a significant pay raise.<\/p>\n USMNT icon Tab Ramos doesn\u2019t just have Hall on his 2030 radar. Were he in Pochettino\u2019s shoes, he\u2019d have brought him along THIS summer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s rare that you see such a young player with such good timing in the box,\u201d Ramos said in a recent episode of his \u2018Inside American Soccer\u2019 podcast with MLSsoccer alum Tom Bogert.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I’m in a bind and I need a goal and maybe I’m being dominated by a superior team, he’s a tool that I’d like to have in my shed. That’s how I feel about Julian Hall. There’s very few like him.\u201d<\/p>\n Further down RBNY\u2019s spine, Mehmeti\u2019s awareness, technique and tempo-setting have drawn comparisons to some of the sport\u2019s very best holding midfielders, even legendary Miami and Barcelona ex Sergio Busquets. Promoted to the first team by Bradley after their run to the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro<\/a> championship together, he\u2019s adapted rapidly and presents enormous upside.<\/p>\n \u201cMehmeti\u2019s always had vision beyond his years,\u201d said Brian Sciaretta, a longtime USMNT journalist who\u2019s covered the senior and youth national teams for Soccer America, American Soccer Now, the New York Times, Fox Sports and others. \u201cHe sees passes that most people don’t see, he sees movements, he picks up on things very fast. He has a very mature way of reading the game.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The United States has never produced a player like Adri Mehmeti, who’s the best teenager in MLS.<\/p>\n Just 17. Plays like a veteran, but does things even MLS vets can\u2019t do.<\/p>\n Can\u2019t wait to see where Mehmeti’s career takes him \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 pic.twitter.com\/TzPLLUmPCk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Joseph Lowery (@joeclowery) May 12, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n While it wouldn\u2019t be shocking to see Pochettino call in any of these four next month, one prominent factor may shift the calculus on their progression to the USMNT.<\/p>\n The United States will again be the home nation when the Summer Olympics return to Los Angeles in 2028. Seven venues across the country \u2013 six of them MLS facilities<\/a> \u2013 will host the soccer tournament, which on the men\u2019s side is an under-23 event with three overage players per squad.<\/p>\n Former LAFC<\/a> boss Steve Cherundolo<\/a> will lead the US team, which Pochettino may view as a timely stepping stone for youngsters like these, even as the calendar forces him to juggle it with a likely invite to that summer\u2019s Copa Am\u00e9rica.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he’s also going to want to respect the youth national team process,\u201d said Sciaretta, adding that older players like Tanner Tessmann, Gianluca Busio and Jack McGlynn<\/a> who missed the cut for the World Cup roster are also still in the mix. \u201cYou’re still competing with other adults, not just the guys who made the team.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of their best U-23s, I think they’re going to try to keep with the Olympic team and give them that experience together. If they can get to the medal rounds, win a knockout game, then all of a sudden they look like a generation that can build together and then move on to the senior team.\u201d<\/p>\n Both he and Twellman note that the Olympics are not just a target in and of themselves; they can provide vital preparation for the World Cup, both individually and as a collective. Half a dozen members of the Spain side that won this year\u2019s Mundial carried Olympic experience; the numbers were much the same for France and Morocco. Even superstars like Messi and Neymar Jr. have taken part in gold-medal runs.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nPhilly phenoms<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Young Bulls<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Olympics, World Cup loom<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n