Four Union Academy products are on the USMNT World Cup Roster while the Union are currently last in the MLS standings

The USMNT dropped its World Cup roster and four players who came through the Philadelphia Union’s academy are on it. Matt Freese, Auston Trusty, Brenden Aaronson, and Mark McKenzie.

Five if you count Christian Pulisic, who grew up in Hershey and played youth soccer with PA Classics before leaving for Dortmund’s academy. The World Cup kicks off next month on American soil and the Philly region is well represented on the national team.

Here’s the craziest part. Not a single one of these guys still plays for the Philadelphia Union. All four academy products are gone. Traded, sold, or moved on to bigger leagues. The organization that developed them doesn’t have any of them on the roster and the Union are currently dead last in Major League Soccer.

Union Academy is well represented on the USMNT World Cup Roster

Here to chase legacy on home soil.

Mauricio Pochettino has selected the 26 players to represent the United States this summer. pic.twitter.com/S8sF7l0PMi

— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) May 26, 2026

That’s Showbiz, Baby

The team that produced four World Cup players can’t win a game in their own league. The development pipeline is elite. The actual product on the field in Chester is a disaster.

Four guys who came through your system are representing the United States of America in the biggest sporting event on the planet and your first team is sitting at the bottom of the MLS table wondering what went wrong.

That’s the most Philadelphia Union thing I’ve ever heard.

The Keystone State!

The local soccer scene is at the heart of the @USMNT World Cup roster pic.twitter.com/U0oJJAO9zv

— FIFA World Cup 26 Philadelphia™ (@FWC26Philly) May 26, 2026

Former Philadelphia Union Players

Matt Freese. Wayne, PA. Came up through the Union academy and debuted in 2019 but Andre Blake existed so Freese was never going to see the field. The Union traded him to NYCFC because what else were they going to do with a backup goalkeeper who was clearly too talented to sit on a bench forever. Smart kid. Figured it out. Found his way onto a World Cup roster without ever getting a real shot in the city that developed him.

Auston Trusty. Media, PA. Delco through and through. Played for the Union from 2017 to 2019 and was solid but got moved to Colorado in a deal that Trusty himself suggested didn’t sit right with him. Whatever happened behind the scenes, the kid landed on his feet. Arsenal bought him in 2022.

He’s been bouncing around the UK since then with Birmingham, Sheffield, and now Celtic in Scotland. A Delco kid playing in the Scottish Premiership and making a World Cup squad. His youth coaches at the Union academy are probably telling everyone at the bar about it right now.

Brenden Aaronson. The best player the Union have ever produced and it’s not particularly close. He was electric on the 2020 Supporters’ Shield team. You could see it every time he touched the ball. The kid was too fast, too creative, and too ambitious for MLS. Salzburg bought him. Leeds bought him from Salzburg.

He did a loan at Union Berlin. The man has been all over Europe since he was 20 years old because the talent was never going to stay in Chester. Everyone knew it. The Union cashed the check and moved on. Can’t blame them.

Mark McKenzie. Grew up in Bear, Delaware, which is close enough to Philly that we’re claiming him. Played 48 games for the Union between 2018 and 2020 and was a rock at center back before transferring to Genk in Belgium.

He’s at Toulouse now in the French first division. Quietly having a nice European career while most people in Philly have no idea he exists. Put some respect on McKenzie’s name. The kid left Chester and carved out a legitimate career across two countries.

Side Note: I’m aware that this is how it goes in the MLS but the Union tend to do it the best. Just wait until Cavan Sullivan leaves too.

4 former Homegrowns are heading to the World Cup! 🥹🇺🇸#DOOP pic.twitter.com/ROz5HAQn81

— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) May 26, 2026

The “Selling Team” Label Is Earned but It’s Complicated

I saw the Union’s own post about their academy guys getting the wall to the World Cup roster and the comments were wild. Fans aren’t wrong either. Like I said, the Union tend to develop talent that quickly outgrows the MLS-level, so they get shipped to Europe or get traded within the league. That’s the cycle and it’s been like that for years.

It’s not like the Union have been trash since these guys left. They literally just won the Supporters’ Shield last year and went to MLS Cup a few seasons after selling Aaronson and McKenzie.

The best stretch in franchise history happened after the academy products departed. Whether you want to agree with it or not, the development seemingly works. The problem is that right now, in 2026, the current roster is the worst in the league and having four of your alumni on the World Cup squad while you sit in last place is an optic that no amount of “we develop players” spin can overcome.

Aaronson and McKenzie were always going to leave for Europe. That was inevitable for talents at their level. Freese was blocked by Blake. Trusty was blocked by Elliott. Those were roster management decisions that made sense at the time. The issue isn’t that the Union sold or traded these players. The issue is that the current team is so bad that the contrast between the alumni and the active roster is genuinely embarrassing.

The World Cup Connection

Six World Cup matches at Lincoln Financial Field starting June 14th. Brazil, France, Croatia, and a Round of 16 game on the Fourth of July. Four Union academy products on the national team. Pulisic with Pennsylvania roots.

Even if the USMNT doesn’t play at the Linc, having four guys from the region on the World Cup roster while the tournament is being hosted in their backyard is a story that no other host city can match. The local connection is real and meaningful. The only thing that would make it better is if the Union weren’t dead last in their own league while it’s happening.

Four World Cup players developed in Chester. Zero of them still on the roster. Last place in MLS. The Philadelphia Union experience in one sentence.

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