Several of the top young talents in MLS will step into the spotlight at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday night as Red Bull New York host their I-95 rivals the Philadelphia Union, headlined by rising homegrown stars Cavan Sullivan, Neil Pierre, Julian Hall and Adri Mehmeti (7:30 pm ET | Apple TV).
It’s an Eastern Conference six-pointer and a clash of perhaps the league’s most academy-centric clubs. And it may also prove a preview of the US men’s national team’s future.
“I think Mauricio Pochettino re-signed with U.S. Soccer because of this generation,” MLS on Apple TV lead analyst and USMNT alum Taylor Twellman told MLSsoccer.com this week. “This 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 – because he didn't really trust any of his players coming off the bench.
“So you can make an argument that all four players are in that conversation.”
‘Poch’ signed a contract extension as the USMNT’s head coach earlier this month, to the surprise of many observers who expected him to return to European club soccer after his 18-month adventure at the helm for this summer’s FIFA World Cup campaign on home soil.
Now that the Argentine manager has re-upped through 2030, there’s keen anticipation about how he’ll 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 in September and October, where the Yanks will face Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada in a quartet of friendlies.
Will that include any of the aforementioned quartet of teenage wunderkinds who face off in Harrison, New Jersey this weekend?
Philly phenoms
Cavan Sullivan has garnered the widest acclaim among this group, initially as the 14-year-old phenom who in 2024 broke Freddy Adu’s 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’s his dramatic maturation into a difference-maker for the revitalized Union that’s drawn the eye.
Pierre, too, has been instrumental in that revival. The 18-year-old center back turns heads with his physicality, towering height (he’s officially listed at 6-foot-5 but appears to have grown significantly since that measurement was taken) and corresponding aerial prowess.
That’s 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 against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Aug. 19.
“That's Miami; all the eyeballs are on you. That's a different type of team,” said Twellman, who was on that night’s broadcast from Subaru Park. “The moment was not too big for him. His feet are good. His pace is good. He reads the game well for his age.
“Also his postgame interview,” he added. “He articulated his feelings, having self-confidence, but also being humble – it just impressed me a lot.”
Young Bulls
Pierre will need to be vigilant against the threat of Hall, whose clever movement and predatory instincts in the opposition’s penalty box are said to have drawn the attention of big European clubs like Atlético Madrid, Newcastle United and Bayern Munich.
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’s cooled off in recent months, his blend of potential and productivity just prompted RBNY to sign him to a contract extension through the 2029-30 MLS season that will make him a U22 Initiative player, connoting a significant pay raise.
USMNT icon Tab Ramos doesn’t just have Hall on his 2030 radar. Were he in Pochettino’s shoes, he’d have brought him along THIS summer.
“It's rare that you see such a young player with such good timing in the box,” Ramos said in a recent episode of his ‘Inside American Soccer’ podcast with MLSsoccer alum Tom Bogert.
“If 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.”
Further down RBNY’s spine, Mehmeti’s awareness, technique and tempo-setting have drawn comparisons to some of the sport’s 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 championship together, he’s adapted rapidly and presents enormous upside.
“Mehmeti’s always had vision beyond his years,” said Brian Sciaretta, a longtime USMNT journalist who’s covered the senior and youth national teams for Soccer America, American Soccer Now, the New York Times, Fox Sports and others. “He 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.”
Olympics, World Cup loom
While it wouldn’t 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.
The United States will again be the home nation when the Summer Olympics return to Los Angeles in 2028. Seven venues across the country – six of them MLS facilities – will host the soccer tournament, which on the men’s side is an under-23 event with three overage players per squad.
Former LAFC boss Steve Cherundolo 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’s Copa América.
“I think he's also going to want to respect the youth national team process,” said Sciaretta, adding that older players like Tanner Tessmann, Gianluca Busio and Jack McGlynn who missed the cut for the World Cup roster are also still in the mix. “You're still competing with other adults, not just the guys who made the team.
“Most 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.”
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’s 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.
For all the euphoria around the Yanks’ scintillating group-stage performances this year, the cold reality is that Poch and his staff were always playing catch-up from the moment they arrived in the autumn of 2024. Now they can be more methodical on the road to Morocco/Portugal/Spain in ‘30, especially when it comes to this rising crop of teenage talent.
“I hope the United States federation takes the Olympics really seriously,” said Twellman, who believes the Yanks should target a medal in ‘28. “You have to learn how to win at the highest level, and so the Olympics is a great opportunity to get this group of players ready for the World Cup.
“Pochettino can call them up, get them acclimated, get them some experience, all of that, 100%. But all four of these players hopefully are playing in the Olympics for the United States.”
