U.S. men’s national team center back Mark McKenzie is headed back to his roots.
The 27-year-old, who represented the Stars and Stripes at the 2026 World Cup this summer, has signed with Homegrown club Philadelphia Union as a Designated Player, the team announced Tuesday. McKenzie will remain with French Ligue 1’s Toulouse until Jan. 1, 2027, upon which time his MLS deal will take effect. He is guaranteed under contract through the 2029–30 season, with a club option for the 2030–31 season.
The defender from Bear, Del. first signed a Homegrown contract with the Union in 2018, en route to 48 MLS appearances, including 46 starts for the club, across three seasons. McKenzie was a key piece of the Union’s run to the Supporters’ Shield in 2020, the first trophy in club history. He finished second in MLS Defender of the Year voting that year, at just 21 years old.
McKenzie’s hometown success earned him the attentions of clubs across Europe, where he has spent the last six years honing his craft. He first played for Belgian side Genk, before becoming a stalwart on Toulouse’s backline. But he knew it was finally time to come home.
“Surreal has been the word I’ve used for the last 36 hours,” McKenzie tells Sports Illustrated. “To leave at the end of 2020, the beginning of 2021, it was this move-on chapter. I was a young kid. I was fresh-faced. I was the baby, the Homegrown on the first team, and had gotten my experience and wanted to go off and start a new chapter.
“At that point I said, ‘Well, I would like to come back to Philly, and I’m not sure if that will happen again, but I’m going to Europe. I’m going to experience all these things that I’ve always dreamt about and see where things go.’”
Flash forward to now, McKenzie is not only a seasoned veteran with 30 caps for the USMNT and experience in the sport’s most prestigious competitions under his belt, but he is also a husband and father.
“Not to come back as just anybody, but to come back as a leader, to come back as a guy who can bring a sense of experience at the highest level. That is, one, a sense of responsibility, but two, a real privilege to even have that trust from the club and from the ownership and players,” McKenzie says.
Leaves a Burgeoning Star, Returns a Seasoned Veteran
For McKenzie, who he left the Union as and who he returns as are not the same person. “I had just started growing my beard,” he chuckles.
“I ended up doing well my first year [in 2018] and then kind of built off that over the next two-and-a-half seasons and went out with a strong bang at the end in 2020, where I really felt like it was probably the best point in my career,” McKenzie reflects. “I was playing at a high level, and the team was successful.
“But I didn’t really know what the highest levels of football were going to be like until I took that step. I wanted to get the most out of myself in my career, so taking that step was important for me. I always wanted to look back and say that I put my best foot forward in whatever environment it was.”
McKenzie may have competed at the sport’s most competitive levels in Europe, including the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, but he actually believes the greatest perspective he’ll bring back to the Union is that of being a husband as well as a father to his 1-year-old son.
“Being able to provide that sense of, Hey, there is much more to life than just this game, so let’s not take ourselves too seriously here,” he explains. “Let’s actually just enjoy going out there and being able to do this thing that we love for a living.”
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The World Cup Fairytale
It was actually the 2026 World Cup across home soil that solidified McKenzie’s decision to return to the States.
McKenzie, who made 10 starts for the Stars and Stripes between January 2023 and May 2026, played all 90 minutes in the group stage finale against Türkiye. He recalls the way the American fans completely wrapped their arms around the team this summer amid a fairytale run that saw the USMNT win out the group stage and earn its first knockout stage win in 24 years. It’s those same American fans who are becoming invested in MLS.
“We got to a World Cup in the States, and there’s this sense of energy, there’s this sense of wanting to see the game grow at a high level, but not just at the professional level but at the youth level,” he exclaims.
He adds, “If you had asked me before the World Cup, I would have said, ‘Oh no, I’ll probably stay in Europe.’ But being in the States this summer and really feeling that sense of connection to the fans, the connection to the American soccer community that really had an interest in seeing the game grow, that made me think again.”
The Unstoppable Union
McKenzie left a highly successful Union team, and he will return to one as well. Philadelphia is currently on a 12-game unbeaten streak, a club record. After starting the season in the depths of the league’s bottom standings (without a win across first six matches), the Union have clawed their way back into playoff contention, now sitting sixth in the Eastern Conference.
It’s a post-World Cup break surge that has been ignited by 17-year-old wonderkid winger Cavan Sullivan as well as 18-year-old center back Neil Pierre and 20-year-old fullback Frankie Westfield. All three Union Homegrowns made their USMNT senior debuts over the weekend. McKenzie is deeply impressed by the youngsters and eager to help them grow.
“I’m extremely excited for them,” he exclaims. “In reality, this is a full circle moment for me as well. I’m coming back not as a Homegrown, but as an old head in the locker room. But I remember when I was in their shoes ... I had all of these veterans around me, who I looked to as role models and guys that I could lean on for wisdom and insight, and to come back as that guy for these young guys who are honestly so much more talented than I was, it’s full circle.”
Sullivan is up to six goals and eight assists in his last eight league appearances, meanwhile the 6'5" Pierre has established himself as a reliable force on the backline and also somewhat of a prolific goalscorer on set pieces, with four goals so far this season. McKenzie will likely pair up with Pierre on the backline next year.
“For an 18-year-old, he’s extremely mature, the way he has stepped into the team,” McKenzie says of his future teammate. “What impresses me most is his composure, to be, one, that size, but also to have the sense of being on the ball, being able to execute passes when he needs to and being able to win his duels ... His read of the game is really good.
“Being able to work with him just on a regular basis will give the opportunity to feed off one another ... I just want to be able to provide him with whatever is needed to continue to grow and do all the things that he sets his mind to.”
