It was fitting that the U.S. Men’s National Team’s shutout win over Canada, the fourth straight win of the USMNT’s fall camp, took place at Allianz Field, home to Minnesota United FC in Major League Soccer, the first-division soccer league in the United States and Canada.
With many of the USMNT players grown here on home soil, the latest senior team camp has shown the full extent of what American soccer can be, from state-of-the-art facilities to player development to passionate supporters. Three of the team’s four wins occurred at MLS venues – Inter.co Stadium (Orlando City SC), Energizer Park (St. Louis CITY SC) and Allianz Field (Minnesota United) – and in a roster featuring new and returning players, MLS clubs contributed 12 out of the 28 squad members.
Beyond where the players currently play professional soccer, a majority of the USMNT players grew up along MLS pathways. Of the 28 players on head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s roster, 21 of them developed in the MLS ecosystem. Across the four matches, 76% of the minutes played for the U.S. came from players who spent time in the MLS Player Pathway.
Thirteen players earned their first cap, bringing the number to play under Pochettino to 75 since he joined U.S. Soccer in September 2024, and the next generation didn’t just sit on the bench; they played a vital part in the team’s perfect four-match stretch. First-time call-ups contributed seven of the 12 goals scored. In the USMNT’s opening 4-1 win over Peru, a debutant was involved in all four of the team’s goals. The leading goal scorer in the window was 18-year-old forward Julian Hall of Red Bull New York, who scored a goal in each of his first three caps.
“Whenever you get your first call-up, there's a reason,” USMNT captain Tyler Adams said. “Prospect is a great word, but they're doing it at a high level right now. For me, as a product of MLS and the kid that came through MLS, you have to respect the league and the level that they're playing at such a young age because you're competing against grown men.”
Justin Ellis (Orlando City SC), Julian Hall (Red Bull New York) and Cavan Sullivan (Philadelphia Union)
Of the 13 players called into their first camp at the senior level, 12 of them developed in the MLS Player Pathway, either as part of an MLS academy or MLS NEXT Pro. Nine completed the full MLS player pathway, progressing from the Academy to play in MLS NEXT Pro and eventually to the first team in Major League Soccer.
One of those players is midfielder Adri Mehmeti, the 17-year-old from Red Bull New York. Mehmeti progressed through the Red Bulls’ Academy, which he joined in 2019. He played for a New York Red Bulls U-15 Academy side that won the 2023 U-15 MLS NEXT Cup. He progressed to feature in MLS NEXT Pro in 2024 and 2025, and captained Red Bull New York II as the club won the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Cup. Then, he signed a four-year MLS contract and has started every league match he’s appeared in this season for a RBNY side currently in contention for a playoff spot.
For the USMNT, Mehmeti made his debut in the opener against Peru on Sept. 26 in Orlando. He earned his first start in the second match against Chile on Sept. 29 in St. Louis and appeared in three of the four games for Pochettino.
“The journey from where I started there to where I am now, it's definitely been an exciting one,” Mehmeti said. “I didn't expect it to happen so fast, but I'm just taking it in every single day and staying humble, of course, because that's the biggest thing as a young player. Showing what I can do on the field, that's another thing.”
That has been the story for players like forward Justin Ellis who progressed through the full pathway at Orlando CITY SC then scored his first international goal in his debut. And forward Cavan Sullivan, whose radical ascent started when he joined the academy at Philadelphia Union in 2020 when he was just 10 years old. September’s MLS Player of the Month has since become the youngest goal scorer in USMNT history, at 17 years and five days, with his debut goal against Mexico on Oct. 3 in Glendale, Ariz.
Mehmeti’s humble attitude is one that Ellis, Sullivan and others in the USMNT’s young class embodied in the four-match window. While being in your first senior team camp can be daunting, Pochettino and his staff acknowledged that the young players acted like professionals and took their first call-up seriously, right from the start three weeks ago.
Not only were they training with heroes and FIFA World Cup veterans they always looked up to – players like Adams, center back Chris Richards, midfielder Gio Reyna – they were also going up against quality competition. The last two games of the window featured a pair of Concacaf rivals in Mexico and Canada. Both co-hosts for FIFA World Cup 2026 advanced to the Round of 16 in the tournament, and the intensity of each rivalry showed up in the latest editions in October.
But the U.S. Men’s National Team weren’t intimidated. They greeted the moment with maturity and preparation – three of the four goals against Mexico and Canada were scored by teenagers earning their first caps. Ten of the 12 goals scored in the window came from players who developed along the MLS Player Pathway.
“Credit to all the coaches, the coaching staff in MLS and the teams in MLS,” Pochettino said. “They deserve the credit more than us because how [the younger players] understand the game. The capacity to adapt so quick to the tactical demand – that is because they have good coaches. That is important to [value] all the coaches that are in MLS working with these guys. In the way that they understood from the day one what we expect from them, I think was amazing.”
Adri Mehmeti (left) and Tyler Adams (right), two products of Red Bull New York
What was on display in these players’ preparations is the cementation of the pathway many of them have been part of. Over time, MLS academies have produced 97 players that have earned at least one cap, a majority of those coming since 2020 when MLS NEXT was founded. On the latest USMNT roster, 20 players were part of an MLS academy:
- Tyler Adams, Mathis Albert, Sebastian Berhalter, Chris Brady, George Campbell, Justin Ellis, Alex Freeman, Matt Freese, Zavier Gozo, Julian Hall, Adri Mehmeti, Peyton Miller, Neil Pierre, Brooklyn Raines, Gio Reyna, Chris Richards, Cavan Sullivan, Auston Trusty, Frankie Westfield
MLS NEXT is the most elite platform for youth player development in North America. MLS NEXT features two divisions including the Allstate Homegrown Division, which comprises 152 Clubs, including all MLS academies and 123 MLS NEXT Elite Academies. The clubs compete in a 10-month pro-style season and the top teams in each age group at each MLS NEXT club participate in the competition, totaling more than 17,000 players.
The next tier in the pyramid is MLS NEXT Pro, the professional men’s soccer league in the United States and Canada, which connects MLS NEXT to MLS first teams. Founded in 2022, MLS NEXT Pro is in its fifth season, and will soon be kicking off its postseason, which Mehmeti and New York Red Bulls II won in 2025.
Fourteen players on the roster competed in MLS NEXT Pro, the most to ever feature on a U.S. Men’s National Team roster, including three of the four first-time goal scorers: Justin Ellis (Orlando City SC), Julian Hall (Red Bull New York) and Cavan Sullivan (Philadelphia Union). Ten players with MLS NEXT Pro experience made their first USMNT starts in this window – nine first-time call-ups plus returner and Chicago Fire FC product Chris Brady.
The development of these players is the yield of years deepening the pathway, explains Eddie Pope, former National Team defender who is now the SVP, Competition & Operations, MLS NEXT Pro and SVP, MLS Sporting Development.
“I think we’re at a really exciting point for soccer in North America,” he said. “The next generation isn’t some distant idea – they’re already on the field, and MLS is giving them a place to develop, compete and prove themselves. The future is very bright, and the best part is that you can see it happening right in front of us. These young players are getting opportunities in MLS and earning National Team call-ups, and now we’re seeing those players step onto the biggest stage and show what they can do.”
Sebastian Berhalter, Alex Freeman and Chris Brady
One insight coming out of fall camp was the exchange that happened between the 13 World Cup holdovers on Pochettino’s roster and the 13 previously uncapped players. Not only did these two groups integrate quickly to create a positive and open camp environment, they also came together beautifully on the pitch to produce wins. Prior to the match against Mexico, the veterans’ message to the young players was “we’re going to need you.” The result was a 3-0 clean sheet with goals from Sullivan, Hall and a clean sheet from Diego Kochen in his first international start.
“The most encouraging part is seeing players take advantage of every step of the pathway,” Pope said. “They’re developing in MLS NEXT, competing in MLS NEXT Pro, earning first team minutes and then taking that experience onto the international stage. That’s exactly what this system was built to do. What’s rewarding is seeing all that work come together. And the job isn’t finished – we continue to work day in and day out to find ways to improve the development of the domestic player.”
The example has been set by some of the international mainstays. Fullback Alex Freeman of Villarreal started in Orlando City’s academy, winning the MLS Next Cup U-17 Championship in 2021. He played in MLS NEXT Pro in 2022, 2023 and 2024 before becoming the 12th Homegrown player signed in club history. He went on to be a finalist for U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year, earn MLS Young Player of the Year honors and was an MLS All-Star in 2025 before being named to Pochettino’s squad for the FIFA World Cup as a 21-year-old and scoring the insurance goal in the group stage win over Australia in Seattle, Wash.
Middlesbrough FC midfielder Sebastian Berhalter progressed through a similar pathway in MLS. Berhalter featured in the Columbus Crew Academy from 2014-2019 for the Under-13/14, U-15/16, U-16/17 and U-18/19 sides. He also helped Columbus Crew’s academy finish third at the U.S. Soccer Development Academy U-19 Tournament for the 2017-2018 season. After a short stint with Austin FC, Berhalter signed with Vancouver Whitecaps FC as a 20-year-old in 2022 and went on to record the second-most assist in the club’s modern era. Berhalter recorded two goals and two assists as a 25-year-old for the USMNT in the most recent FIFA window.
“As an enterprise, MLS and our clubs have committed an immense amount of time and resources to building this pathway, and now we’re seeing players come through it and really make their mark,” Pope said. “That’s what you hope for when you invest in development.
Of course, one of the first players to ever develop on this MLS pathway is the USMNT’s captain, Adams. Introduced to the Red Bulls system at the age of 10, Adams was the first-ever player to graduate from the Red Bulls Regional Development School (RDS) program and progress all the way through the academy system to a professional contract. He was the first signing in Red Bulls II history at the age of 16. He signed with the first team and scored in his debut.
“MLS was my pathway,” Adams said. “That's how I was able to get my opportunity playing games at such a young age… When I look at Adri [Mehmeti] and Julian [Hall] just getting full seasons under your belt, whether they're good or bad, it doesn't matter. Put the pieces together and be able to develop in some of these games.”
Many of the young players in this camp seek to follow this path, like Mehmeti and Hall who represent Adams’ former club Red Bull New York. Adams made his international debut in 2017 at the age of 18, around the same age as many of the players of the debutants this window, and captained the USMNT at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Pochettino stressed throughout camp the importance of supporting this group of younger players, and he has full faith in the MLS pathway as players return to their clubs. Some of them will be competing for a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs, some of them will be competing in the MLS NEXT Pro playoffs, looking to knock off New York Red Bulls II as defending champions.
Whatever the case may be, it’s clear this is just the beginning, as Pochettino said:
“It's important that we start to show that the facilities that we have with this group of players that now we need to be smart – the Federation, everyone – in how we can support them to keep improving and evolving and create a professional that can provide us and to put the Federation in the level that we all expect.”
Mauricio Pochettino has a few words of encouragement for Cavan Sullivan (Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
