Analyzing Cavan Sullivan: How the MLS wonderkid has stepped up in 2026

Philadelphia Union and United States wonderkid Cavan Sullivan didn’t take a break this summer, even as the first team enjoyed a much-needed few weeks off for the World Cup

The first half of the season was a disaster. The Union went from first in 2025 to 30th in 2026, and head coach Bradley Carnell was fired as the team went their separate ways for the summer.

Having won a starting spot in the first team, Sullivan told the Union he wanted to keep playing and asked to keep training with the second team.

The kid who has a transfer pre-agreed to Manchester City when he turns 18 in two years, the kid who has been followed with a spotlight since he was 13 at academy and youth national team games, asked to go back to the second team instead of training alone or taking time off.

“During the World Cup, he was an animal in the way he trained,” Union sporting director Jon Scheer told The Athletic.

The Union II had a friendly lined up against Ivory Coast, who were based in the area for the World Cup. Sullivan asked to play in that, too, and excelled. He even posted a compilation of his highlights on social media. He is still a kid, after all.

Highlights of Cavan Sullivan vs The Ivory Coast First Team
Cavan held his own against a very physical team that just beat France

cavan.sull pic.twitter.com/JIEo9Re4yN

— USMNTContent (@USMNTContent) June 10, 2026

Since the team returned to training, with second-team head coach Ryan Richter elevated to interim boss of the first team, the Union has taken off. They won all three of their MLS games with Sullivan playing a central role. He started seven games in a row across all competitions before being rotated on Thursday in a dead rubber in the Leagues Cup. That choice was to keep him fresh for the more important league game on the weekend.

In short, Sullivan has leveled up from a promising young talent to a key contributor in all facets of the game. Not just his dazzling skill and intentionality on the ball, but off of it, too, in a pressing, high-energy team.

“That’s what I’m most proud of with Cavan: He’s happy when we win and when we lose, no matter how he plays, he’s not happy,” Scheer said. “That’s a really good sign for years to come.”

It does not take long watching Sullivan play to get swept up in the excitement.

Game time is coming more regularly now for the 16-year-old, having racked up almost 50 percent of his senior career minutes since the start of May.

It is giving Sullivan more opportunities to impress, and Richter has already seen enough to suggest that he trusts Sullivan to make a difference in the final third.

Sullivan’s influence on the Union is growing by the week. (Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

Every time the play moves towards Sullivan, it feels as if something could happen. He is refreshingly direct, a zippy winger who has no fear when it comes to taking on defenders, able to dip left and right with short steps and devastating bursts of speed.

“He’s played with a lot of intent and confidence, he’s earned everything he’s got so far and is hungry for more,” Scheer said, reflecting on his recent success with the first team.

Here he is in a recent comeback win over Atlanta United, for example, picking up the pass from full-back Kai Wagner and instantly squaring up to his man. His first touch is positive, and he doesn’t hesitate before dropping a shoulder and darting to the byline, happy to rely on his pace to get round the defender. His path is blocked, but he sells Matthew Edwards the dummy and chops inside to fire a pass to Jovan Lukić on the edge of the box.

Barely five minutes later, he peels off into space on the opposite flank, shimmying both ways before cutting in and driving a low shot towards the far corner.

Sullivan is yet to score from outside the box in senior football, but the early signs are that he can pack a punch from distance, striking the ball consistently well. He is not shy about taking those shots on either, having unleashed 11 attempts from distance already this season, with 10 coming after he has ducked onto his stronger left foot, including the one below.

Sullivan’s natural enthusiasm catches the eye, and sees him drift all over the pitch to find fresh opponents to take on.

As we can see from the visual below, he is equally happy to run at defenders from either flank, while his rate of 5.1 take-ons per 90 minutes ranks seventh among MLS players this term.

Sullivan’s close control in tight spots also makes him tricky to tackle, capable of receiving passes under pressure and wriggling his way away from outstretched legs.

In another example from that Atlanta game, he carries the ball straight into a crowd of players, slinking away from three separate challenges before eventually being dispossessed. Although Sullivan can’t carry the ball towards the byline himself, the fact that he engages four opponents still leads to a half-chance for his team.

Given his positivity and youthful enthusiasm, Sullivan is understandably prone to mistakes.

The 16-year-old is desperate to leave an impression, and that bears out in the statistics: Around one in four of Sullivan’s passes are considered ‘progressive’ — a pass that moves the ball at least 25 percent closer to the opposition goal — while almost nine per cent of his carries include a take-on, the fourth-highest rate in the division.

So much of what he does is with the intention of attacking the opposition, which can lead to overplaying and forcing the issue at times.

Here he is holding onto the ball a little too long down the flank earlier in the first half, ignoring the overlapping run and giving up possession as he attempts one stepover too many…

…while he feels the ire of his teammate and older brother Quinn Sullivan, 22, at the back post after opting to go alone against Seattle, taking himself too wide and seeing his effort easily saved.

Cavan Sullivan’s decision-making can be worked on, but it is always worth giving talented players like him the freedom to make an impact, particularly at such a young age.

Given his natural dribbling ability and powerful strike on goal, meaningful attacking contributions should soon begin to surge.

“I’m really happy with what Ryan (Richter) and the staff have done,” Scheer said. “They’ve allowed Cavan to be different and special in moments of the game while still having standards and expectations of him within the team. Whether it’s against the ball, whether it’s some structural positioning with the ball. But we want Cavan to be Cavan.

“As well as he’s playing for such a young player, he’s got more in him. And he knows that. He wants to get better.

“Cavan just wants to be the best he can be — that’s how he approaches every training session and game, no matter who he’s with. That’s going to take him a long way.”