The Kids Are Alright: 4 Takeaways As Youngsters Propel USA To Victory

Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando) — The U.S. men’s national team’s long road toward the 2030 World Cup is off to a winning start. In the USA’s first match since being eliminated from the 2026 event by Belgium in the round of 16, the Stars and Stripes got goals from veterans Malik Tillman and Sebastian and teenage debutants Justin Ellis and Julian Hall to defeat Peru, 4-1, on Saturday at the home of MLS side Orlando City in the first of four exhibitions over the next week-and-a-half. Here are my takeaways following Saturday’s victory. Two days shy of his 17th birthday, the Philadelphia Union phenom became the youngest player to appear for the U.S. since Freddy Adu more than 20 years ago and the second youngest to start a match, after Mike Slivinski all the way back in 1991. Deployed by coach Mauricio Pochettino on the right wing — the same spot at which he’s piled up goals and assists for his hometown club since MLS returned from its World Cup hiatus in mid-July — Sullivan didn’t look at all out of place. Despite the huge jump in speed of play at the international level, the 16-year-old wasn’t physically over matched. He played his passes quickly and occasionally flashed the skill that led Manchester City to come to an agreement with Philly that he’ll move overseas when he turns 18 a year from now. He even picked up a yellow card following a tangle with veteran Peruvian keeper Pedro Gallese. (The caution from Jamaican referee Steffon Dewar was dubious, as Sullivan appeared to be pushed into Gallese by one of his own defenders.) “I am so happy with his performance,” Pochettino said post-match. “I feel really proud. A 16-year-old, performing and fighting and playing with personality, with character.” It was a fine debut, and the first of many appearances for a player who could be a key part of the U.S. program for more than a decade to come. “It was a really special day for me, my family — it’s crazy that I represented my country at the highest level with the men’s national team,” Sullivan said afterward. “And the win is [the] most important [thing].” Sullivan wasn’t the only teenager to make his debut for the Stars and Stripes on Saturday. With two-time World Cup veteran Antonee “Jedi” Robinson on the bench, 18-year-old Peyton Miller — who has played on the wing for the New England Revolution this season — returned to his usual spot at left back. The fleet-footed Miller also performed well, even if he got caught on the wrong side of Gianluca Lapadula on Peru’s first-half equalizer. His ability to stretch the field was apparent when he was able to isolate defenders and beat them to the end line, which he did on multiple occasions. (Jedi replaced Miller a little after the hour mark.) Ellis, 19, also got the start in the same stadium at which he plays his home games for Orlando City. That might not have happened had 2026 World Cup roster members Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi and Haji Wright not either been injured or just returning ahead of these four stateside exhibitions. Ellis took full advantage of the opportunity by deftly nodding Gio Reyna’s free kick over the head of Gallese and off the inside of the far post to give the Americans the lead less than four minutes into the contest. “Probably one of the best moments in my life,” Ellis said. Seventeen-year-old Mathis Albert drew a penalty minutes after entering, one that Tillman converted. And Hall got on the end of a cross from another second-half sub in Berhalter just moments after coming onto the field. With 13 uncapped players and eight teenagers on this roster, the focus since the U.S. roster was named on Sept. 17 has understandably been on the newcomers. Yet Pochettino’s lineup in Orlando was far from inexperienced, with Reyna, Matt Freese, Alex Freeman, Tyler Adams — who wore the captain’s armband for the first time in Poch’s two years at the helm — Malik Tillman and Auston Trusty having all started games at the 2026 World Cup. “[The newcomers] were so comfortable on the field, but that is credit to the senior players because all the senior players were fantastic in the way that they welcomed and supported them, in the way that they guided them in the last few days,” Pochettino said. All of those vets should continue to occupy big roles on the road to 2030. So should Jedi and Berhalter, not to mention the aforementioned forwards and longtime mainstays Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie, who are also just returning to action for their clubs. And the same goes for 23-year-old AC Milan midfielder Yunus Musah, who made his first appearance for his country since early 2025. Musah started all four games for the U.S. at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but didn’t make the roster four years later after skipping last year’s Gold Cup for personal reasons and then struggling for playing time on loan to Atalanta during the 2025-26 Italian Serie A season. “It’s great to have him back,” Adams said. Pochettino said on Friday that he would’ve rather had more training time and fewer than four games during FIFA’s new extended September/October window, games that were scheduled before he inked his new four-year contract with the U.S. Soccer Federation in August. Yet for U.S. fans — and especially the millions of new ones made during the Americans’ stirring run to the round of 16 over the summer — seeing their team in action four times over 11 days is a rare treat outside of a World Cup, Gold Cup or Copa América. Next up for the home team is Chile, another hard-tackling South American foe that didn’t qualify for this year’s quadrennial soccer extravaganza. The window concludes with matches against Mexico next Saturday in Glendale, Arizona and on Oct. 6 vs. Canada in St. Paul, Minnesota. “We need to [keep] our feet on the grass,” Pochettino said. “For sure we are going to have ups and downs during that journey, and during the next few games. Because all the games are completely different.”