Could Cavan Sullivan be our Lamine Yamal in WC 2026?

(Which is also to say that if Cavan lights MLS on fire, he, too, could claim one of those 2-3 spot open for grabs. But he'll have to light MLS on fire. Call it the "Sebastian Berhalter line.")

 

Cavan Sullivan has 0 career goals and 0 career assists in first team soccer.

That's not some criticism. He's still only 15.

Both can be true at the same time: Cavan can have a great ceiling, but also not have earned a USMNT place just yet.

A better discussion might be whether this 15 year old should make our U20 World Cup roster this fall (if he'd be released for it). You can name him to that based on merit Not the USMNT.

What Mexico decides to do with Gilberto Mora is their business.

 

Your telling me if Cavan Sullivan is not starting for the USMNT at the age of 16 his career isn’t basically finished?

 

You have literally no factual basis for this statement. Do you have a catalog of the first starts at any senior team level for all players historically?

Just stop. We are so far from this.

 

Good article here but at this point last year when he was Cavan’s age he’d yet to have played a single minute of first team soccer.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6477947/2025/07/08/gilberto-mora-mexico-yamal-record-gold-cup/

And not to say that means Cavan Sullivan is going to have a similar progression in the next year but at younger ages the jump from year to year is fairly big just given physical development that happens.

But also just generally the player a guy is going to be is typically not decided at 16. Some players for instance surge at that age and fade.

 

Cavan will probably start getting better quickly as there is a huge difference between 15 and 17 as I remember 15 year old Pulisic and 17 year old Pulisic was getting minutes for Dortmund. Mathis is a bit older and playing more of a position of need so I think he has the better shot. Big picture is I don't think any player in history at 16-17 has played big minutes at the WC. So if I was coach I'd wonder if I need a very young kid on the bench who likely doesn't play at all or both McGlynn and Berhalter in case I need players who are excellent at free kicks if I'm behind.

 

I don't know why people compare Cavan to a couple exceptions when he's 15 and clearly physically hasn't had the growth spurt needed for the adult game yet.

Wait another 12-18 months.

 

Pele won WC for Brazil at 17 with a goal in QF, 3 goals in the SF and 2 in the final.

 

Can we take chances and hope nature runs its course? Did you see that AppleTV segment the kid can barely eat pasta without complaining. Have the doctors get him on human growth hormones like Messi so he doesn't end up another Adu Hyndman Mendez etc.

 

I've seen him play several times now and see no reason, other than publicity, that he is playing first team in Phila. Perhaps it's just that they see potential and don't want to lose him right now?

Still, much ado about nothing so far...

 

I stand corrected. For some reason I thought he was on the team but didn't play like the original and best Ronaldo. So I guess this means if Cavan is on the team scoring goals he won't be the next Pele. That would be such a disappointment.

 

Could be a little bit of contractual obligations with MC or they want to be able to brag if he blows up big time later that he played for them. I actually guess he's earned minutes over other backups with a lot of players missing. It's always good to give prospects a cup of coffee so they know more of what is expected, speed of game, physicality and they can go back and work even harder to get more minutes later.

 

I've only seen him play probably a total of 90 minutes or so in total, and in my opinion he held his own and deserves more time. At 15 years old and not physically developed yet, that is quite intriguing. The next couple of years will tell the tale to see if he's able to make another leap as he grows, but I haven't seen a reason not to give him spot minutes to help him transition and hopefully make that leap.

 

Cavan with a pretty decent goal

IT JUST HAD TO BE CAVAN 🚀

Sullivan laces home the opener for @PhilaUnionII!

📺 #MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV: https://t.co/23koPCE2uJ pic.twitter.com/GmdJS644QN

— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) July 13, 2025

Cavan brace / equalizer

15-YEAR-OLD CAVAN SULLIVAN SCORES HIS SECOND TO EQUALIZE pic.twitter.com/eJDjlitTVY

— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) July 13, 2025

Player of the matchweek

Cavan cooked 👨‍🍳

Congrats to Cavan Sullivan on being named @MLSNEXTPRO's Player of the Matchweek!#DOOP pic.twitter.com/rtYtaf3PRR

— Philadelphia Union II (@PhilaUnionII) July 14, 2025

From his first MLS start

🇺🇸⭐️ | 𝐂𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐧 (𝟏𝟓) on his 1st MLS Start last night:

• 61 Minutes Played
• 5/6 Aerial Duels Won
• 4/8 Ground Duels Won
• 3 Tackles

𝟏𝟓 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐋𝐃 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ZaZ4OHS13Z

— Rising Stars XI (@RisingStarXI) July 6, 2025

 

... but he only played about 360 minutes.

 

He was no Freddie Adu!

 

Liverpool also has a 16 year old who will likely see ample playing time this year

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/45906193/why-everyone-talking-liverpool-rio-ngumoha-16

 

TOM BRADY: AMERICA NEEDS THIS PLAYER 👀 pic.twitter.com/y9xt0Q0SOG

— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) August 3, 2025

Can someone let Tom Brady know about Cavan Sullivan?

 

Man, I love seeing Tom Brady speak like this.

 

It was pretty amusing the clip going around social media where he was questioning Wayne Rooney’s work ethic as a coach.

 

this is part of what's wrong with US Soccer. He's probably going to be a decent player. He's not going to be Lamine Yamal. Lamine Yamal was scoring crazy goals at the absolute highest level at 16. He looks like a decent prospect (Cavan) but the discussion should NOT be is Cavan our Lamine (he's absolutely not going to be) - he's not Lamine, he's not Bellingham, he's not Pedri. I do not get the impression he could be like any of these superstars. There's nothing wrong - at all - with Cavan developing into say Baena. A decent starter in a first division european team thats not a superstar. This is the most likely outcome. People need to calm down and focus on maybe having 20 Cavan Sullivans. Maybe then we start to have something interesting.

 

I mean he’s probably not going to be Lamine Yamal because it’s unlikely any player is going to develop into one of the best players in the world, but just because a guy hasn’t broken out at 16 doesn’t really mean a ton either way.

 

I agree with your general point, but I think you’re also blurring the lines between evaluating Sullivan based on his ability and style of play. He’s never going to be Yamal in part because gliding past fullbacks and rip curlers just inside the far post aren’t big parts of his game. And although he’s unlikely to be as good as a Luka Modric, it’s still possible. That’s the type of player he’d look like if he reaches the highest heights. While I agree with you that reaching Baena’s level would be very successful, I think it’s too early to say he can’t reach a level higher than that. He needs to start really shining in mls pretty soon though.

I will also say that I think producing a super star or two is more important to deeper World Cup runs. So I’d rather have one Haaland or Yamal than 20 Baenas.

 

Meh. It's just fans getting excited.
Was it going overboard way too prematurely? Yes. We all knew it.

[Just like the England fans getting excited about Max Dowman. There are examples in every country.]

Philadelphia, the City Group, and the US programs are taking it step by step. That's what's important.

I suspect Cavan is going to get lots of opportunities the second half of this MLS season. Let's see how he does.