How MLS Is Transforming From Retirement Club to Kids' Club in 2026

Red Bull New York and Real Salt Lake have turned to youth at the start of the 2026 MLS season.

Michael Bradley (right) embraces Julian Hall (left) after the youngster scored his third goal in two matches. | Red Bull New York

Fresh off the transfer of former teenage standout Obed Vargas from Seattle Sounders to Atlético Madrid in February—the 2026 MLS season has kicked off with a surge of eye-catching performances from emerging young players.

These kids are already driving the league forward. Red Bull New York and Real Salt Lake, in particular, hit historic marks for young players in the opening two weeks.

RBNY unites past and future.

Under the management of former U.S. men’s national team captain Michael Bradley in his first MLS head coaching role, the club became the first team to start three players 17 or younger in a regular season match on Matchday 1. The trio of 17-year-old Julian Hall, 17-year-old Matthew Dos Santos and 16-year-old Adri Mehmeti started again the following week. They continued to dominate, the latter two assisting Hall's goal in the 1–0 win over the New England Revolution. It marked Hall’s third goal of the season after netting a brace in the opener for a 2–1 win over Orlando City.

Julian Hall has enjoyed a standout start to the season. | Adam Hunger/Getty Images

“They’re really talented young players,“ said Bradley on Saturday about his teenage stars, all three of whom he previously coached on RBNY II. “We’re really happy with the progress that they’re making. They’ve shown how good they are.

“We have to keep pushing them. With any young player, not every weekend is going to be perfect, not every game is going to be their best, but we’re going to continue to find the right ways to help these guys and make sure they continue to take the next step.”

Dos Santos, having exhausted his MLS call-up limit (two) just eight days into the season, will now need a new short-term call-up from MLS Next Pro or a full-fledge MLS deal should he want to play next week. 

Meanwhile, Salt Lake City manager Pablo Mastroeni started three players aged 18 or under in the 2–1 win over Seattle in Matchday 2. 18-year-old Aiden Hezarkhani scored his first MLS goal, while a relative senior by recent standards, 21-year-old Ariath Piol, netted the winner. 

Who else but Julian Hall? 💫

The 17-year-old is off to a hot start this season, giving @NewYorkRedBulls the 1-0 lead.

📺 Apple TV: https://t.co/8dtqKDCECb pic.twitter.com/sKA0NbTaKU

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 28, 2026

“He’s had an unbelievable preseason with us,” Mastroeni said of Hezarkhani on Sunday. “I couldn’t be happier for him. He’s a fantastic individual. He’s going to be a top player in this league. I think today opening his account is really huge, not only for himself, but also the group.”

The reliance on youth isn’t a gimmick or a push for cap-friendly deals. 

There’s a growing belief that youth players, with their fitness, speed and even a lack of fear about what they’ve never experienced, can be key contributors in MLS compared to older domestic veterans. 

In following that belief, RBNY and Real Salt Lake find themselves bucking the trend of MLS as a retirement league, even after a veteran-laden Inter Miami squad captured the 2025 MLS Cup with an average age of 31.1.

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A New Perspective on MLS 

Pablo Mastroeni helped ease Diego Luna into MLS action since 2022. | Peter Creveling-Imagn Images

While the youth-oriented approach has had its place in MLS in the past, with the likes of Vargas, Alphonso Davies and several others embracing the opportunity, both Bradley and Mastroeni see the situation from a different perspective as former players. 

Bradley, who retired from Toronto FC in 2023, saw firsthand the impact veterans like himself could have, while also witnessing Toronto’s failure to integrate young players. Eventually, those integration efforts saw Toronto miss out on present-day MLS stars like LAFC’s Jacob Shaffelburg and Austin FC’s Jayden Nelson, after they showed promise with the Canadian side. 

Mastroeni, across 16 seasons as a player (1998—2013), saw MLS’s evolution from an American-heavy veteran league to the glitz and glamour of the Designated Player rule, which began in 2007 with David Beckham's arrival to LA Galaxy.

As two members of the first wave of former players to coach in the now 31-year-old league, Bradley and Mastroeni bring a different realization of youth, which has so far had a positive return.

Whether it can last, however, is always the question. None of the youngsters have experienced such demanding schedules, and the naivety of inexperience that grants fearlessness could also be the factor that holds them back.

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