"He just told me to be myself. He knows that being myself has got me to this point. So why change that?" Alex Freeman said recently, a short answer that has become the running theme of a year that will likely put him in the USMNT starting lineup for the 2026 World Cup opener on Friday, June 12 at SoFi Stadium.
Freeman, a 21-year-old, 6-foot-2 defender, has reached that edge surprisingly fast: he made his U.S. debut in June 2025 and appeared in 16 of the team's next 17 games. Those appearances, plus a January move from Orlando to Villarreal, have left him on the verge of starting when the United States meets Paraguay in Los Angeles.
The numbers that matter are plain. After joining Villarreal in January, Freeman started three of his club’s last six games in the first half of his season in Spain. At the national level, he has become a regular nearly immediately after his debut, and his presence in camp drew effusive praise from Christian Pulisic, who called him "a beast, man," and said Freeman has shown calming poise and forward progress with the ball.
Family has been part of the story. Freeman’s father, Antonio Freeman, the former All-Pro and Super Bowl champion who caught an 81-yard touchdown pass in Super Bowl XXXI to help the Green Bay Packers win, is with him in the Los Angeles area along with the rest of the family as Alex prepares to make his World Cup debut. Freeman has described his father’s role plainly: "He was just giving me those kind of speeches that you hear from a dad."
Those pieces—rapid accumulation of national team minutes, early club starts in La Liga and a steady family presence—are why a 21-year-old with barely any MLS minutes at the start of last year is suddenly likely to be in the USMNT XI on the biggest stage the U.S. hosts this summer. Freeman himself framed his January move to Villarreal in explicitly World Cup terms, saying he wanted to become the best player he could to help his team and that playing in La Liga was the best way to do that: "I wanted to make the move to make sure that I can be the best person, best player I can to be able to help my team in the World Cup," and that "what better way to do it than going to La Liga, one of the most competitive, technical, and aggressive leagues in the world."
The arc reads like a classic breakout: barely playing in MLS at the start of last year, a clear leap at Orlando City over the past two seasons, a January transfer to Spain and a run of starts that have convinced teammates and staff of his readiness. Yet the friction is obvious. A player who had limited MLS action a year ago is now being counted on to handle the pressure of a World Cup opener in his home country—an assignment usually reserved for seasoned veterans.
That friction has not gone unnoticed inside the U.S. camp. Pulisic highlighted more than physical tools; he emphasized Freeman’s overall presence, the ability to progress the ball and a newfound composure in training and early matches. Those endorsements, combined with Freeman’s quick accumulation of minutes—16 of 17 games after his debut—are the principal evidence the coaching staff appears to be relying on as it leans toward him for Friday’s match.
There is more reading material on Freeman’s path, including a deeper look at his family background and rise from Orlando to Spain; see Antonio Freeman’s son Alex Freeman poised to start for USMNT in World Cup opener —
The remaining, decisive fact will be revealed when the players step onto the pitch at SoFi Stadium: will the 21-year-old who moved from MLS to La Liga this winter wear the USMNT’s first-choice number across from Paraguay? The United States answers that question when it walks out for the opener on Friday, June 12.
