Never have so many young players broken into the USMNT in such spectacular fashion and at the same time as have the eight teenagers who have debuted in the extended fall window.

All but one player has earned at least one start. And four players have scored, producing six of the 11 goals in the three U.S. wins over Peru (4-1), Chile (4-2) and Mexico (3-0).

The stories of the USMNT 8 are remarkably similar. All come from strong soccer households, where they began kicking a ball at a young age. And all were fast-tracked to the pros.

• Most have parents (or grandparents) who are immigrants, representing a wide array of countries: Albania, Bangladesh, Cameroon, France, Germany, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Poland and Uruguay.

Adri Mehmeti’s parents, Vani and Suada, both immigrated from Albania to New York, where they met. Vani made it clear before they married that his goal was to raise a son to be a professional soccer player.

“That was always his dream,” Suada told The New York Times.

• Four players have older brothers who play or played college soccer or play pro ball.

In the case of Cavan Sullivan, he has an older brother who is a Philadelphia Union teammate and fellow U.S. international, Quinn, and twin brothers, Ronan and Declan, who are freshmen at St. Joseph’s, not to mention parents, Brendan and Heike, who both played at Penn, and a grandfather, Larry Sullivan, who played at Temple and coached Villanova’s men’s soccer team.

Cavan Sullivan. (Photo: Philadelphia Union)

• All but one player (Justin Ellis) signed his first pro contract before he was 16.
(New Jersey labor laws prevented Julian Hall from playing MLS night games for the Red Bulls until he turned 16.)

• What stands out most of all is the mobility of the eight players and their families.

Mathis Albert‘s family moved from Greenville, South Carolina, to San Diego when he was 9 for his father’s work, but they moved from San Diego to El Segundo when he was 11 so he could enter the LA Galaxy academy after being discovered playing for Surf by Galaxy academy coach Sam Al-Basith.