The accolades keeping coming for the young homegrowns at the Philadelphia Union, with a big moment for them today. Mauricio Pochettino announced the squad for the US Men’s National Team for the upcoming international friendlies, and the Union’s young talent was well represented with three players being called to the senior team for the first time. Neil Pierre, Cavan Sullivan, and Frankie Westfield, all players who have featured with the youth national teams and have been outstanding, have been given a chance to take that next step in representing their country.

Arguably the most anticipated name for the list was the 16 year old midfielder Cavan Sullivan. Sure, he was always highly-touted with a bright future, but the run he has been on with the Union since the World Cup break has been nothing short of incredible, with six goals and five assists on the season in 23 appearances (11 assists if you count the hockey assists as MLS does), and most of those came after the break. He has also had MLS Team of the Matchday honors multiple times, and was most recently Player of the Matchweek. He has also broken records in having a seven-game streak of goal contributions—the youngest and first teenager to do so in MLS history.

Through it all, he has been confident, but not overly cocky. You want to see that confidence and swagger, but also the maturity and level-headed behavior. He has been doing just that. This writer has seen the growth just from covering Union II and doing interviews with him since those days up through now.

The way he has handled speaking with the media, and how he has handled himself on the field, such as defending his brother but not letting it get out of hand in the scrum with Inter Miami, has been laudable. When teammate Malik Jakupovic scored his first MLS goal on a night he had a brace, Cavan was clearly thrilled and spoke enthusiastically about Malik in a postgame interview. It is clear that he has a good support system around him, from family, Ryan Richter and the Union staff, and his teammates.

Cavan has, of course, been huge at the USYNT level , including at the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar last fall. Now he gets to take his talents to the USMNT and get that experience of being with the squad, no matter what kind of minutes he gets, and he has two promising teammates joining him.

While much of the hubbub about the national team call-ups has been centered around the youngest Sullivan brother, Neil Pierre and Frankie Westfield have been fantastic and have earned well-deserved selections. Having also risen through the ranks of the Union Academy and Union II, they have cemented their places as vital pieces of the first team.

Neil has simply been a force since returning from his loan to Lyngby, with four goals in just 10 matches, and quality defense that has helped Andre Blake get a clean sheet the last three matches. He has set a Union single-season record for most goals by a defender- at just 18. The growth as a player has been substantial since that loan. At 6’7″ he is always an aerial threat, and has come in clutch for the Union on several occasions— and is only getting better.

At the youth national team level, Pierre made 17 appearances with the U-17s and nine with the U-19s.

And then there is Frankie Westfield. What a trajectory the young man has had. He was days away from going to Penn State, and though the college route is a great path for many, it seems signing with Union II and then the Union has worked out pretty well for him as he has been a key player on the first team since 2025, and has six assists this season.

Frankie had one goal and one assist in his 10 appearances for the U-20 Men’s National Team. He was strong in the FIFA U-20 World Cup last year in Chile in addition to his contributions for the Union, which seemed to really start to bring his name up in the national stage.

For three homegrowns from the Union to be called up to the senior team, and the Union being the club with the most players selected, speaks volumes of the strength of a club that touts its player development. Former Union homegrowns Matt Freese and Auston Trusty were also selected to the squad.

That next step for these three homegrowns is being taken, and they could be key during this new cycle if they continue progressing the way they are. It is certainly an exciting time for the youth movement in US Soccer.

The friendlies will be as follows:

September 26 at 4:30 PM vs. Peru in Orlando, Florida

September 29 at 8:00 PM vs Chile in St. Louis, Missouri

October 3 at 10:00 PM vs Mexico in Glendale, Arizona

October 6 at 8:00 PM vs Canada in St. Paul, Minnesota

Main article photo: Emily Wallace-Sutton