Philadelphia Union midfielder Cavan Sullivan is set to earn his first international call-up with the United States men’s national team later this month, a source with knowledge of the roster told the Guardian on Wednesday. The source requested anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the roster.
The US will face Chile, Peru, Mexico and Canada in late September and early October, with US head coach Mauricio Pochettino expected to announce his roster on Thursday morning. ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle was first to report news of Sullivan’s inclusion.
Sullivan, who turned pro at age 14, has long been touted as a potential US international. His play since MLS resumed action after this summer’s World Cup has been a revelation, with six goals and eight assists in that period. That has earned him a look from Pochettino. Earlier this month the player drew Pochettino’s attention in an entirely different way, when Sullivan suggested in a podcast interview that he might have proven a valuable contributor for the US this summer at the World Cup, where they crashed out in the last 16 against Belgium.
“We are watching everything, we are seeing everything,” Pochettino told reporters at the time. “And of course, we want players with talent, players that feel brave, feel confident, but not [that] feel things that they still don’t show or they [haven’t] earned. I think you only are entitled to talk a little bit out of order if you are Messi. If you’ve won eight Ballon d’Ors, OK, you can talk with a certain arrogance.”
If Sullivan plays in this upcoming window he will become the fourth-youngest player ever to earn a cap for the USMNT (The youngest being Freddy Adu, who was several months younger than Sullivan when he debuted in a 2006 friendly against Canada). Sullivan did manage to break another of Adu’s long-standing marks: he became the youngest player in the history of any major North American professional sport to appear in a match when he first took the field for the Union in 2024.
Sullivan signed his deal with the Union in May of that year. His contract that includes a transfer to Manchester City when he turns 18.
