Philadelphia’s many ties to the 2022 World Cup

He’s the pride of Medford, the Union, and soccer fans across the region — and he’s the first U.S. men’s player from the Philly area to make a World Cup team since 2006.

Few players anywhere in the American game have risen faster to stardom than Aaronson. It’s been only two years since he helped the Union win their first trophy, then moved to Austria’s Bull Salzburg. Nearly $40 million in transfer fees later, he’s now a stalwart for Leeds United in England. A breakout performance at this World Cup could take him to an even higher level.

» READ MORE: ‘Ted Lasso’ puts up a banner in Medford to cheer on Brenden Aaronson at the World Cup

The biggest name of all in American men’s soccer is famously from Hershey. For years, Philly fans claimed him as their own because he was the closest thing there was. He played in town enough over the years, and he’s a Sixers fan.

But it’s not just that. In 2012, Pulisic played for a Union under-15 team at the prestigious Generation adidas tournament in Seattle. Current Union manager Jim Curtin was coaching the club’s under-17s a few fields away.

“Christian was tiny back then,” Curtin said. “He was really, really young. But you could still see his obviously natural ability and talent on the field, for sure.”

The Union never really stood a chance of signing him, but Pulisic hasn’t forgotten. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, he had a Zoom chat with the club’s reserve team players to give them some encouragement.

» READ MORE: When Christian Pulisic's mind is in a good place, his feet usually are too

It took 13 years for an active Union player to make a World Cup squad. You might have thought that the milestone would be reached by a big-name European import, or a hotshot academy product. Mbaizo is neither of those things, which makes his story even better.

Four years ago, the Union signed a 20-year-old Mbaizo to a contract with their reserve team, then known as Bethlehem Steel in the second-division USL Championship. He was a relative unknown, though he had gotten a few looks from Cameroon’s national team.

Mbaizo had to wait until late 2020 to get regular playing time with the Union. Once he did, he blossomed into a dynamic attacking right back. Cameroon’s scouts were watching, and brought him in for World Cup qualifiers and last winter’s Africa Cup of Nations.

His defensive acumen hasn’t always been great, and it cost him his starting spot with the Union earlier this year. He put in the work to earn it back, and was terrific in the team’s run to its first championship game. The odds are good that the Union will sell him before next year, but this month he’ll put the team’s name on the biggest stage of all.

» READ MORE: Olivier Mbaizo becomes the first active Union player to make a World Cup team

Seven years ago, the Toronto native with Portuguese ancestry spent an underwhelming season with the Union on loan from famed Portuguese club Benfica. Then he went to Poland for a few years, then back to Portugal, where he’s been ever since. He kept plugging away, and has done well enough to keep a place on Canada’s national team. Now he’s part of the Canucks’ first trip to a men’s World Cup since 1986.

The striker for Denmark and Spanish club Espanyol is a big investor in a North Philadelphia tech incubator and residence for young people of color.

» READ MORE: Martin Braithwaite helped launch a North Philly residence for aspiring tech creators of color

A former U.S. national team star who played at the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cups, he’s now the U.S. Soccer Federation’s sporting director, with oversight of the men’s and women’s national teams. He was the Union’s sporting director from late 2015 to mid-2018, when he left to become the men’s national team’s general manager. He was promoted to his current job in August 2019, and is contracted through 2026.

Stewart helped build the Union academy into a powerhouse and remains close with Union manager Jim Curtin. They’ve watched many Union academy products thrive with U.S. teams: Aaronson and Mark McKenzie with the senior men, and Paxten Aaronson, Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan and Brandan Craig with the under-20s.

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

Philly fans usually don’t like referees. But they might appreciate this one, because she lives here.

Nesbitt used to be a chemistry researcher. She studied at St. John Fisher in her hometown of Rochester, N.Y., then at Pitt and Michigan. From 2017-19, she taught at Towson University near Baltimore.

She started working as a soccer referee in 2002, and reached the professional ranks in 2015. Big games on her résumé include the inaugural NWSL game in 2013; MLS’s COVID-19 bubble tournament in 2020; last year’s Concacaf men’s Gold Cup and this year’s Women’s Championship; and the 2019 women’s World Cup.

In 2019, Nesbitt left her Towson job to become a full-time referee. She has lived in Philadelphia for a little while now. For this World Cup, she’s one of five women to work games, the first group of female refs at a men’s World Cup, and one of four American refs overall.

“This was an impossible dream for me, and just being able to witness females at this event now makes this realistic for all women,” Nesbitt told the Washington Post. “Whether it be in refereeing, whether it be in a different sport, whether it be in something completely different — sometimes just having a visual like that can make something actually be real. If I get to play even a small role in that, that’s really cool.”

» READ MORE: Philadelphia has strong connections to the U.S. team players and staff in past World Cups

The U.S. women’s team legend from Delran will be a Fox studio analyst in Qatar.

The former Union captain, who played in the 2010 World Cup, will also be a Fox studio analyst.

» READ MORE: Carli Lloyd and Maurice Edu will be part of Fox’s World Cup broadcasting team

The Union’s longtime local TV play-by-play voice will be one of five Fox game broadcast crews.

Their studios are in Miami, but they’re owned by Philadelphia-based Comcast, so they count. Especially because Telemundo chairman Beau Ferrari and longtime Comcast chief Brian Roberts helped Philadelphia win its bid to host 2026 World Cup games.

» READ MORE: Philly hosting the World Cup is a dream comes true for Brian Roberts

Here’s a list of every past or present Union player who has made a team for a men’s World Cup.

1994: Faryd Mondragón, Colombia

1998: Faryd Mondragón, Colombia

2002: Kléberson, Brazil

» READ MORE: Kléberson helped arrange Zoom chats with soccer legends for Union academy players during the pandemic

2006: Chris Albright, United States; Tranquillo Barnetta, Switzerland; Oguchi Oneywu, United States

2010: Tranquillo Barnetta, Switzerland; Maurice Edu, United States; Kléberson, Brazil; Raïs M’Bolhi, Algeria; Oguchi Oneywu, United States

2014: Tranquillo Barnetta, Switzerland; Alejandro Bedoya, United States; Marco Fabián, Mexico; Raïs M’Bolhi, Algeria; Haris Medunjanin, Bosnia & Herzegovina; Faryd Mondragón, Colombia; David Myrie, Costa Rica; Carlos Valdés, Colombia

2018: Marco Fabián, Mexico; Gabriel Gómez, Panama

2022: Brenden Aaronson, United States; Olivier Mbaizo, Cameroon; Steven Vitória, Canada

» READ MORE: Haris Medunjanin got Lionel Messi's jersey when Bosnia & Herzegovina played Argentina at the 2014 World Cup