Brenden Aaronson celebrates making the U.S. men’s World Cup team

Brenden Aaronson was out at dinner on Sunday with his grandparents, who had come to visit him in England.

His phone buzzed with a text message from U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter. And the time of year being what it is, Aaronson knew it was the biggest text message of his life. Berhalter wanted to talk, and he wanted to do it over FaceTime.

So the Medford native excused himself for a moment, slid a beanie over that famed mop of curly hair, and went outside into the Yorkshire night.

A few deep breaths later, the phone buzzed again, and the cameras rolled at Berhalter’s home in Chicago.

“Hey, Coach,” Aaronson said.

“What’s up, buddy?” Berhalter answered.

They chatted for a few more seconds, then it was time for the biggest news of Aaronson’s life.

“I want to let you know,” Berhalter said, “that on Wednesday, we’re going to be announcing you as one of the 26 players on the roster for the World Cup.”

» READ MORE: The U.S. men’s World Cup team is full of surprises: Haji Wright and Tim Ream in, Zack Steffen out

“That made me smile,” Aaronson said, and the grin on his face could have stretched from Subaru Park to Leeds. “Jesus. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thanks a lot.”

“Think how far you’ve come, man, from the first time you were in camp,” Berhalter said. “Everything goes so quickly. Right now you’re in the Premier League, and now you’re playing in the World Cup.”

The conversation didn’t last much longer. Berhalter told Aaronson to “go tell your grandparents. … They’re going to be psyched for you,” and that was just about it.

But little else needed to be said beyond the magic words. Aaronson and Christian Pulisic are the first players from the Philadelphia area to make a men’s World Cup team in 16 years, and they will be among the Americans’ brightest stars in Qatar.

“I’m just so excited and I’m so grateful to be a part of the national team,” Aaronson said in remarks distributed by U.S. Soccer. “It’s always an honor to represent the country, and especially on the World Cup level. It’s really unreal.”

» READ MORE: The dream has come true for Brenden Aaronson, with Leeds United and the U.S. men’s soccer team

As Berhalter said, Aaronson’s rise has been remarkably fast. It’s been just over three years since he earned his first senior national team call-up in October 2019, and he earned his first cap four months later.

Aaronson was just 19 years old at that point, and had just finished his first pro season with the Union. He scored his first pro club goal in March 2019, a long-range shot past veteran Atlanta United and U.S. national team goalkeeper Brad Guzan that immediately went viral.

Though the pandemic would soon upend the planet, when MLS resumed games Aaronson went viral a lot more often. His creative dynamism and relentless work ethic helped propel the Union to their first trophy, the 2020 Supporters’ Shield, and earned a $6 million move to Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg that became $9 million as he met performance incentives.

“Ever since scoring the goal in Atlanta, to then making the first national team call-up in October 2019, it’s been a real roller-coaster ride [for] both club and country,” Aaronson said. “It’s been awesome meeting all the guys on the team and getting to know the coaching staff really well, getting to know Gregg. It’s just been a whirlwind, and I’m grateful for the group that I’m around — not just the players, but the staff and everybody behind the scenes.”

Aaronson spent a year-and-a-half in Austria, winning two league titles and two Austrian Cups with Salzburg. And he got to play in the biggest club competition of all, the UEFA Champions League. After delivering two goals and an assist in the qualifying playoffs, he helped the team reach the knockout stages for the first time in its history.

(The team Salzburg beat in those qualifiers had another Philly connection, by the way: Denmark’s Brøndby had future Union striker Mikael Uhre leading its attack.)

» READ MORE: Men In Blazers' Roger Bennett on Brenden Aaronson's rise to stardom

Now the world was really paying attention. Even though Salzburg lost its round of 16 series against superpower Bayern Munich by an 8-2 aggregate score, Aaronson assisted on both of his team’s goals. Leeds United was one of many teams scouting him, starting months before the club hired manager Jesse Marsch — the close friend of Union manager Jim Curtin who was Salzburg’s boss when Aaronson signed there.

In late May, Leeds signed Aaronson for $30 million, the second-biggest transfer fee in American men’s soccer history. The Union got $5 million of it, thanks to a sell-on fee in their deal with Salzburg.

Would Aaronson be able to thrive in the planet’s fiercest domestic league competition? No one knew for sure. But the answer came fast: yes, and then some. While Leeds’ results this season haven’t always been ideal, Aaronson has been one of the team’s stars. Leeds fans love his endless motor and skill on the ball. And they really loved his first Premier League goal, which sparked Leeds’ first win over archrival Chelsea in 20 years.

Three months later, Aaronson packed his bags for the biggest soccer stage of all.

“To be fair, I haven’t at all just grasped the whole moment,” Aaronson said. “With Leeds, we’ve had a pretty hectic season so far, and to really wrap my head around it and to really think about it, it’s been crazy. I haven’t had much time to think about it.”

» READ MORE: Brenden Aaronson's first Leeds United goal made headlines in England and Philadelphia

He will now, as the U.S. squad gathers in Qatar to prepare for its tournament opener against Wales on Nov. 21 (Fox 29, Telemundo 62). But he might also try for just a little while longer to keep the youthful innocence that soccer fans first saw when he was a 17-year-old amateur in the Union’s academy.

“I think I play the best when I’m just enjoying the moment and I’m not thinking too much that it’s on a world stage,” Aaronson said. “I know what it is, but I’m just going to go and enjoy and just try the best I can, and help the team the best I can.”

His grandparents have known that innocence and that smile for even longer. It was good timing that they were in town to celebrate with him.

“We didn’t want to make it too loud because we were in a restaurant, of course, and we didn’t want it to get out,” he said, having been sworn to secrecy until Wednesday’s official announcement in New York. “Maybe I had a little brownie at dinner, but yeah, that was about it. Treating myself.”

He has earned that, and much more.

» READ MORE: The Inquirer’s first feature on Brenden Aaronson, when he was a 17-year-old in the Union’s youth academy in 2018