When USMNT goalkeeper Matt Freese looked out at his teammates during his team’s emphatic 4–1 win over Paraguay, 9 of the 10 outfielders he saw play their club soccer in Europe—including striker Folarin Balogun, who netted two goals in the victory. The tenth was the captain, Tim Ream, who returned to MLS after more than a decade in England in 2024.
Although no two careers in soccer are exactly the same, there is a clear pattern emerging among this generation of the USMNT. They are leaving the U.S. earlier to spend their best years in one of the top five leagues in Europe—in England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France—where the wages, cachet, and quality of the soccer are all at their peak.
Take right-back Alex Freeman. He was born in Baltimore, moved to Florida to play a higher standard of youth soccer, and signed as an academy player with MLS’s Orlando City. He established himself in the first team for the 2025 season at age 20 and played 38 games. A year later, Orlando accepted a transfer offer of $7 million from a Spanish top-tier team, Villarreal. Freeman adapted quickly to a new league, helping earn him a fifth cap for the USMNT against Paraguay.
Midfielder Tyler Adams had a very similar path. He played two full seasons for the New York Red Bulls, when he was 18 and 19, before RB Leipzig took him to Germany. He is now a starter for Bournemouth in the Premier League.
