Julian Hall Named MLS Player of Matchday 1
In a lineup where youth was on display, Julian Zakrzewski Hall stood out the most.
The 17-year-old striker, starting ahead of Red Bull New York’s leading goalscorer from last season, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, took full advantage of the spotlight.
Hall scored two goals in the first half against Orlando City SC in both teams’ first match of the season. It was RBNY’s only two goals in the 2-1 win at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
That performance has paid dividends for Hall, who was named the MLS Player of the Matchday for Matchday One (1) of the 2026 season.
This is Hall’s first Player of the Matchday honor.
At 17 years and 336 days old today, Julian Hall is the sixth-youngest player to win the award in MLS history behind Freddy Adu (15 years, 342 days), Santino Quaranta (16 years, 275 days), Cade Cowell (17 years, 201 days), Alphonso Davies (17 years, 222 days), and Jozy Altidore (17 years, 288 days).
“It’s easy to forget how young [Hall] still is, because he’s been a professional for a few years, but he has really, really big qualities, and we’ve got to keep pushing him so that he can take the next step,” Head Coach Michael Bradley said.
“And tonight was a really good start for him. He had a really good preseason. So we were all really excited for him that he could take the good preseason and turn it into a really strong performance.”
Last season, a Red Bull player was only named Player of the Matchday once. Emil Forsberg earned the honor in Matchday 12, scoring two goals and two assists as RBNY crushed LA Galaxy, 7-0, at Sports Illustrated Stadium in a rematch of last year’s MLS Cup final.
This is the first time a Red Bull New York player has ever been named Player of the Matchday in the first game of the season.
Hall and fellow young teammate Adri Mehmeti were both named to the MLS Team of the Matchday for their performances. Mehmeti made his MLS debut in Saturday’s match. He tallied his first career MLS assist on Hall’s second goal. With that, he is the second youngest player in franchise history to tally an assist at 16 years, 321 days old.
The MLS Player of the Matchday is selected each matchday of the regular season through media and fan voting, conducted by MLS Communications.
A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) accounts for 75 percent of the vote, while an Instagram fan vote accounts for the remaining 25 percent. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
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