The Union’s Jack McGlynn makes the U.S. Olympic soccer team, opening the door to stardom

For as much as Jack McGlynn resembles so many other big-time young Americans, his backstory has a different twist.

The Union midfielder didn’t grow up playing soccer on manicured fields ringed by high-end cars. No, he learned his craft — including that ethereal left foot — in a public park, down the street in his Queens, N.Y., neighborhood. Middle Village was well-enough-to-do, but no spread-out suburb.

As McGlynn played, he knew he could see the world from his doorstep: the sport he loved, the biggest of cities, and the borough long renowned as the Big Apple’s most diverse.

Now it’s time for the world to come to him. McGlynn’s selection to the U.S. men’s Olympic soccer team became official on Saturday, earning the 20-year-old a long-awaited ticket to one of sports’ biggest stages.

Though U.S. Soccer won’t unveil the full squad until Monday morning, it gave MLS teams with Olympic players and home games this weekend permission to announce their players so they could be celebrated by fans. McGlynn and defender Nathan Harriel made it from the Union, and they’ll be honored at Saturday night’s game against the New York Red Bulls (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

» READ MORE: Union fans should treasure watching Jack McGlynn, because they might not be able to for much longer

“It feels amazing to finally get the news,” McGlynn told The Inquirer. “Waiting was kind of stressful, because you see other teams put out their rosters and, like, you’re waiting until we get the call for ours. … To finally receive it is a weight off the shoulders a little bit.”

The use of long-awaited to describe McGlynn’s selection is no joke. Ever since he was part of the U.S. under-20 squad that earned Olympic qualification in 2022, he was projected to make the 18-man under-23 squad headed to France this month.

Regular readers of The Inquirer’s soccer coverage have known about McGlynn for even longer than that. He first seized the spotlight in the 2021 playoffs as an 18-year-old rookie, when he scored a penalty kick against Nashville and made an ice-in-his-veins gesture to celebrate.

» READ MORE: An 18-year-old with ice in his veins: Jack McGlynn was the Union’s penalty kick sensation in 2021

By the end of 2022, he was a regular starter in central midfield, and he has remained one ever since. We don’t yet know how many other midfielders will be on the U.S. team, but with a squad that small, you can be sure McGlynn will contribute plenty.

If he plays well in France, the spotlight on him will grow even bigger. Scouts have watched him closely for years, and the Union have held off foreign suitors until after the Olympics to try to get the biggest deal possible.

“There’s a lot of eyes, I know, that will be on the tournament,” McGlynn said. “Obviously the season hasn’t been going the way the team wants it. But I know my quality, I know I want to play in Europe, and, hopefully, that can propel me to do so.”

It’s been 16 years since the U.S. men last played in the Olympics, so long ago that the Union hadn’t started playing yet. The last game that the program played in the tournament was on Aug. 13, 2008, just under six months after the city was awarded an expansion team to kick off in 2010.

The ensuing drought of three quadrennial cycles 2012, 2016, and 2020-turned-21 — didn’t get much mainstream media attention because the men’s Olympic tournament is for youth squads. But it was a headache within soccer circles, as it hurt the development of significant players who passed through the age group along the way.

» READ MORE: The Union have rarely had must-watch players. Jack McGlynn has been one for two years.

Consider this, too: 2008 was five years before longtime Olympics broadcaster NBC started airing the English Premier League (and three years before it started a brief MLS deal). These Games will be the first ones where the network, owned by Philadelphia-based Comcast, can put a U.S. men’s Olympic team in its overall soccer story.

There will be no better way to do that than on the tournament’s opening day, when the U.S. plays host France at Marseille’s famed Stade Vélodrome. Clear your calendars for 3 p.m. Philadelphia time on July 24 — two days before the opening ceremony, because soccer always starts early to fit in games.

“I think it’s going to be exciting,” McGlynn said. “Those are the games you want to play in growing up, with the environment like that, and a hostile environment, and what we could say is our biggest game in the tournament so far. It’ll be really exciting to try to quiet the crowd there.”

There, for a second, was a New Yorker-turned-Philadelphian talking. McGlynn doesn’t mind it, and he knows his story is ideal for NBC’s cameras.

“I get a lot of criticism for being a Knicks fan around here, but to be in two of the best cities on the East Coast — technically I could say from both now — I think it’s kind of fun,” he said. “I think I would like the spotlight. I think the more attention you get, the bigger your name can become, and I think I would like that.”

» READ MORE: Four Union players led the U.S. men’s soccer team to end its 16-year Olympics drought

After facing France, the Americans will stay in Marseille to play New Zealand on July 27, then face Guinea in Saint-Étienne on July 30. It’s a group the U.S. can advance from, and from there, who knows what might happen.

They’re already paying attention back home, and not just in the McGlynn household. New York mayor Eric Adams gave McGlynn a social media shout-out on July 4, naming him with other locally born soccer stars. McGlynn said he was surprised and flattered.

It’s a reminder that while the Olympics aren’t as big as the World Cup in soccer, they bring a special sizzle, especially for Americans who’ve grown up watching them.

“You’re kind of just a young kid dreaming, you watch all the biggest sports events in the world, and I think the Olympics is number one in that,” McGlynn said. “You think all the best athletes in the world come together, and to have a chance to be a part of that, it’s huge.”

» READ MORE: Last year, Jack McGlynn has hit the heights he and the Union hoped for

Times listed are Eastern. All of NBC’s online streaming of the Olympics is available free with pay-TV provider authentication at NBCOlympics.com, or via subscription on Peacock.

July 24: vs. France at Marseille, Olympics group stage, 3 p.m. (USA Network, Telemundo 62)

July 27: vs. New Zealand at Marseille, Olympics group stage, 1 p.m. (USA Network, Telemundo 62)

July 30: vs. Guinea at Saint-Étienne, Olympics group stage, 1 p.m. (USA Network, Telemundo 62)

Aug. 2: Quarterfinal at Bordeaux (if group winner), 3 p.m. (Universo, English TBD), or Paris (if runner-up), 9 a.m. (Telemundo, English TBD)

Aug. 5: Semifinal at Lyon (if group winner), 3 p.m. (USA Network, Telemundo 62), or Marseille (if group runner-up), noon (E!, Telemundo 62)

Aug. 8: Bronze medal game at Nantes, 11 a.m. (English TBD, Telemundo 62)

Aug. 9: Gold medal game at Paris, noon (USA Network, Telemundo)