The USA’s rising stars: Top young Americans in MLS 2025

With the 2025 MLS season now nearly a third complete, we are starting to get a picture of how this season fits in terms of youth development — specifically the progress of young American players. The good news is that this season appears to be stronger than 2024 when looking at players eligible for youth national teams. 

Drawing a line at the 2004-birth year (which includes the players eligible for the 2025 U-20 World Cup plus one year out), there are already players pushing through at impressive levels. 

Here is a look at the top young American performers in the league to start the season. 

Top American youth in MLS to start 2025

Alex Freeman (Orlando City): The right back has athleticism in his blood as the son of former Green Bay Packer great Antonio Freeman. The younger Freeman also has a lot of skill and his goal over the weekend now gives him three goals and one assist on the season. His combination of athleticism, strength, and attacking ability is a good combination for the modern demands of the position. At 20 years old (but four months too old for the U-20 World Cup), he is a high upside prospect, and it will be very interesting to see how he continues to develop in Orlando.

Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union): Along with Freeman, Sullivan is one of the top 2004-born players. The attacker consistently is part of goal contributions. Last season, he had 5 goals and 8 assists in MLS (7 goals and 10 assists) in all competitions. This season he has 1 goal and 5 assists.

Peyton Miller (New England Revolution): The left back is maybe the most promising 2007-born player in the league right now and he is eligible for this year’s U-20 World Cup as well as the following cycle. He’s been very good since his return from injury and the Revolution has improved dramatically since he’s been back on the field. The team’s record is 5 wins, 1 loss with Miller in the lineup. Miller went 74 minutes on Saturday in a 2-0 away win over Toronto. It’s worth keeping a close eye on Miller because he is turning into a top American prospect at just 17 years old. Given his age, his talent, his starting job, and a potential place at the U-20 World Cup, he could have a potentially very high price tag by the end of the year. 

Benja Cremaschi (Inter Miami): The midfielder has been a top U.S. youth international for several years. Having already appeared for the USMNT and the 2024 U.S. Olympic team (U-23s), he will likely be part of the 2025 U.S. U-20 team and possibly the 2028 Olympics as well. Minutes are hard to come by on a star-studded Miami team, but Cremaschi continues to be relevant, including scoring the winning goal last month in a 1-0 victory over Columbus in Ohio.

Johnny Shore (NYCFC): The homegrown has made 10 appearances and seven starts in defensive midfield for the first team and most of his performances have been very good — including on Sunday in a 1-0 win over Cincinnati when he helped shut down one of the league’s best teams. He was outstanding on both sides of the ball with his passing and his defense — winning 5/6 of his tackles and 7/9 of his ground duels. Despite being a young 2007-born player, Shore has been especially comfortable with the physical side of the game. Last season. he was an MLS Next Pro all-star and he has made a big step forward in 2025. He seems ready for a June call-up to the U.S. U-20 team to make a case to be on the U-20 World Cup roster. 

Brooklyn Raines (Houston Dynamo): It was a slow start to the season for Raines as he struggled for minutes as Houston Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen was tinkering with the midfield after the arrival of Jack McGlynn just before the start of the season. But Olsen now has a role carved out for Raines with McGlynn in the midfield and the Dynamo looks better for it. Raines has been one of the best U.S. U-20 players this cycle and lately has been showing a high level of skill. His strength is in his ability to hold the ball and make a high percentage of his passes. Even in a 2-0 away loss to LAFC over the weekend, Raines was 42/45 in passing. In the week before, he was arguably the best player on the field in a 3-0 win over Austin. Against LAFC, he showed his defensive side in winning 4/4 of his tackles. 

Frankie Westfield (Philadelphia Union): The right back has been one of the most pleasant breakout players among the U-20 player pool. He’s been a regular starter for the Union and he has been a positive contributor to the team’s early season success. He’s done so well that he might have played his way into a starting job at the 2025 U-20 World Cup. On Saturday, he went the full 90 in a 2-1 away win over Montreal and in the week before, he assisted on the opening goal of a 3-0 win over DC United. 

Tate Johnson (Vancouver Whitecaps): One of the more pleasant surprises of the season with young American players in MLS has been the left back who is months removed from playing NCAA soccer with the University of North Carolina to now starting Champions Cup games away against Monterrey and Pumas (where Vancouver prevailed) and against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami team. He is part of a Vancouver team that is the talk of MLS in its run to the Concacaf Champions Cup final. It will be interesting if he gets a U.S. U-20 call-up in June to make a late push for the World Cup squad. He is exceeding all expectations. Last Saturday, he had a strong 72-minute shift in a 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake that extended Vancouver’s lead atop the Wester Conference to seven points. 

More notes on American youth in MLS

Owen Wolff (Austin FC): The midfielder is enjoying a good start to the season but Saturday was a step back as he (along with everyone on Austin FC) had a poor outing in a 3-0 loss at home to Minnesota. Wolff is a 2004-born player but is only two days from being eligible for the current U.S. U-20 team, which he would have made. 

Sergio Oregel (Chicago): He tops U.S. U-20 eligible players so far this season in terms of minutes played in MLS. On Saturday, he went 84 minutes in central midfield for Chicago in a hard-fought 0-0 draw with Orlando where Chicago was down to 10 men starting in the 36^th minute. Oregel completed 63/66 of his passes including 7/9 in long-range passing and 12 completed passes into the final third. With the Fire back on its heels playing shorthanded, Oregel was still the team’s best creative force in the attack. Overall, it was a very good performance from a player on the U-20 bubble. 

Christopher Cupps (Chicago Fire): He became the Fire’s youngest ever starter in the 0-0 tie with Orlando. For a 16-year-old central defender, it was a very good effort having to defend for so long while his team was down a man against a good attacking team. Cupps completed 38/39 passes and made 12 clearances. Toward the end of the game, he made some mistakes in positioning, but overall it was a performance that left Chicago coach Gregg Berhalter pleased. 

Zavier Gozo (Real Salt Lake): He has now started two consecutive games for RSL, which have been his only two starts of the season. The first was in a 3-1 win over San Diego and last weekend in a 2-1 loss to the surging Vancouver Whitecaps. The 2007-born attacker is rated by U.S. Soccer and he has had multiple call-ups to the U-20 team despite playing up a cycle. He’s still very raw, but there is an upside. He just needs minutes — which will likely come off the bench the rest of this season. His size and aggressiveness in the attack make him fun to watch — showing that there is more to Real Salt Lake than just Diego Luna. 

Noah Cobb (Atlanta United): He is on the bubble for the U.S. U-20 team and has made six appearances for Atlanta United. His performances have been uneven (and he wasn’t good in his last outing two weeks ago in a loss to Orlando), but that is hardly any different from the rest of Atlanta United, which is having a terrible start to the 2025 season. It’s tough to evaluate a young player on a team in such a bad place, but Cobb is worth keeping an eye on as the U-20 World Cup nears. 

Jacob Bartlett (Sporting Kansas City): He has now made eight starts and Kansas City has been playing much better since the coaching change last month.  Bartlet offers versatility to play both in the backline and in the midfield. He went 60 minutes on Sunday for Sporting in a 1-0 win over the reeling Galaxy and needs a big run of games to get a June call-up for the U.S. U-20 team to make a case to be part of the World Cup plans. His versatility could be very useful to that group.

There are a few U.S. U-20 players who will likely go to the World Cup but who need to be doing better jobs fighting for minutes. Atlanta United winger Luke Brennan has been fantastic for the U.S. U-20 team in every camp he’s played, but still is not playing for his club. Niko Tsakiris is now part of his second U-20 cycle but has been slow to come along under Bruce Arena with San Jose — although is doing better recently. Reed Baker-Whiting is barely hanging onto his U-20 World Cup roster spot after the emergence of Westfield in Philadelphia. He has been battling injuries as well and the 20-year-old probably feels pressure to play more after being a regular U.S. youth international for many years.

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