On Thursday morning, USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino announced his roster for a forthcoming quartet of games. The first thing that leaps out is that Christian Pulisic's name is nowhere to be found. The story is that the U.S.'s best player will stay in Italy as he heals up from a pair of injuries sustained in his team's embarrassing loss to Belgium in the World Cup, though Pulisic isn't so injured that he couldn't help his team come back and salvage a draw against Lazio last weekend.
Per the sourced-up Doug McIntyre, Pulisic "has had a strained relationship with Pochettino" since skipping the 2025 Gold Cup. It's way too early to forecast Pulisic's medium-term future with the program, or the degree to which it will matter. In the opening days of the 2030 World Cup cycle, it's time to think about the future. It's time to welcome the reign of Cavan Sullivan.
Sullivan is only 16 years old, but has been marked for future USMNT stardom since early 2024, when he signed the largest Homegrown Player deal in MLS history with the Philadelphia Union. That deal included a pre-transfer agreement to ship him off to Manchester City when he turned 18. Four years is a long time to have to wait, but City clearly felt someone of his talent was worth it, and he's only proven that decision wise in the two years since.
Sullivan made his MLS debut in July 2024, in the process breaking Freddy Adu's record to become the youngest player ever to debut in the league. He spent most of his time with the Union's reserve team, making 19 first-team appearances over the next two seasons and tearing up the second-division. In every big-time goal, run of quality matches with Union II, and USMNT youth appearance, you could see the outlines of a future star.
In Sullivan's post–World Cup run in MLS, you can see a regular star, right now. He's been tearing up the league, with five goals and four assists in the 10 games Philly's played since the league got back underway. Sullivan has started every match during that run, in which his team is unbeaten. He's doing crazy moves out there, most notably scoring this perfect little backheel against San Diego over the weekend.
Sullivan shifts around across the attacking midfield positions, though he's spent most of his time on the right. His older brother Quinn also plays for the Union and has made three USMNT appearances, and they'll often start together on opposite sides of the pitch. The Union academy has reliably produced the best young players in MLS, successfully launching Auston Trusty, Brenden Aaronson, and Mark McKenzie off to Europe. Two of Sullivan's fellow Philly youths, 18-year-old Neil Pierre and 20-year-old Frankie Westfield, are also on Pochettino's fall roster. But Sullivan is in a different league entirely from anyone who's come through the Union, and basically anyone who has come through the U.S. youth system except for Pulisic.
"This kid is incredible: He's tough, he's nasty, he has the skills to back it up," Tim Howard gushed on a recent episode of his podcast. "Who's better than this kid? He should be in the conversation to play every game." Howard is right, in both the particular case of Sullivan and as it regards the structural shifts of the broader USMNT.
The home World Cup is over, with the team debasing itself in a horrific 4-1 loss to Belgium despite the president personally intervening to get FIFA to cheat on the team's behalf. Pulisic is 27, and may have another World Cup or even two in him, but you can see the horizon of his USMNT career off in the distance. The team has to get younger, especially since very few young players broke through between the 2022 and '26 World Cups.
This roster represents the beginning of a generational shift. Sullivan is the headliner, but Pochettino has brought in every young prospect fans are excited about. You have Zavier Gozo, the Utah 19-year-old who just made his Premier League debut for Crystal Palace two weeks ago; Adri Mehmeti, the 17-year-old New York Red Bulls standout; Mathis Albert, the 17-year-old Dortmund attacker whom everyone who pays close attention is convinced is the real deal; and Justin Ellis (no relation), the much-lauded 19-year-old Orlando City striker. Anyone who has spent any time paying any attention to prospects in any sport knows that pedigree and promise don't always translate when a player starts trying to break through to the next level, but there's a lot to be excited about. The future was always coming for the USMNT, and now you can finally see its shape.
