Cavan Sullivan’s Cavan Sullivan 22 Under 22 ranking puts him at No. 1 on MLSsoccer.com‘s 2026 list, making the Philadelphia Union midfielder the youngest player ever to top the rankings at 17 years and 22 days old. The honor caps a season in which Sullivan broke multiple age-related records across MLS and the U.S. men’s national team, all while his club stormed from last place to the brink of the playoffs.
1. Cavan Sullivan, Philadelphia Union (21 Goal Contributions)
Sullivan’s path to the top of the 22 Under 22 list started years before this breakout campaign. He signed with Philadelphia’s first team in May 2024 at 14 years and 293 days old, setting the record for youngest debutant in North American professional sports history when he took the field that July. Then-Union head coach Jim Curtin called him “a generational talent” at the time, a label Sullivan has spent the past two years living up to.
This season brought the statistical proof. Sullivan posted 21 goal contributions, seven goals and 14 assists, the most by a teenager in a single MLS season. He also strung together a 10-game goal-contribution streak, the longest ever by a teenage player in the league. Those numbers earned him MLS Player of the Month honors for September 2026, making him the youngest player to win that award.
The recognition extended beyond club soccer. Sullivan received his first USMNT call-up in September 2026 and became the fourth-youngest debutant in the modern era, plus the second-youngest to start a match. He then scored a long-range goal in a 3-0 win over Mexico, becoming the youngest goalscorer in USMNT history.
In topping the 22 Under 22 list, he passed Vancouver Whitecaps product Alphonso Davies, who was 17 years and 355 days old when he claimed the No. 1 spot in 2018. Sullivan is also reportedly set to join Manchester City at a future date, according to Yahoo Sports.
What The Ranking Signals For Sullivan And The Union
Sullivan’s rise has tracked almost exactly with his club’s turnaround. The Union hired interim head coach Ryan Richter during the 2026 FIFA World Cup break, and Philadelphia has gone unbeaten in 15 matches since, posting 12 wins, zero losses and three draws. That stretch includes a club-record eight-game winning streak that lifted the Union from last in the MLS table to sixth in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia enters the final weeks of the regular season carrying momentum from its 2025 Supporters’ Shield title, and Sullivan’s record-setting production has been central to that recovery.
Sullivan is not the only Union player the league’s panel noticed. Defender Neil Pierre, 19, ranked No. 7, and defender Frankie Westfield, 20, ranked No. 11, giving Philadelphia three players on the list. That ties the Union with Red Bull New York for the most-represented club in the 2026 rankings, according to MLSsoccer.com. Sullivan is also just the second Union player to top the list, following academy product Brenden Aaronson, who won it in 2020.
The 22 Under 22 rankings come from votes cast by a panel of select MLS staff, Apple TV broadcast talent and club technical staff. Eligibility requires players to be 21 or younger by the end of the 2026 regular season on Nov. 7, meaning anyone born on or after Nov. 8, 2004, qualified for consideration.
What’s Next
The Union continue their push through the final stretch of the 2026 MLS regular season, which wraps up Nov. 7. Sullivan’s USMNT scoring record and Player of the Month honor have already made him a fixture in national team conversations as Philadelphia aims to build on its historic unbeaten run down the stretch.
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