Cavan Sullivan surpassed Mathis Albert as the United States' youngest-ever goalscorer – only four days after that record was set – in an eye-catching 3-0 win over 10-man Mexico.

Albert scored in Tuesday's 4-2 win over Chile at the age of 17 years and 131 days, but Philadelphia Union sensation Sullivan netted at 17 years and five days old on Saturday.

He was not the only young player to impress for Mauricio Pochettino's hosts in Glendale, either, with 18-year-old forward Julian Hall netting their 28th-minute opener.

After Santiago Gimenez passed up a huge early chance for Mexico, Hall was on hand to finish following some suspect goalkeeping from Raul Rangel, who found Malik Tillman's right-wing cross too hot to handle, following a lovely, disguised pass from Sebastian Berhalter.

Gimenez somehow steered wide with the goal gaping at the end of the first half, while his team-mate Roberto Alvarado was only denied by a reflex Diego Kochen stop early in the second, having thumped a volley goalwards on the swivel.

But the USA doubled their lead just beyond the hour mark, with a more glaring mistake from Rangel gifting Sullivan his first international goal. Under little pressure, he passed straight to the teenage midfielder, who immediately lobbed the goalkeeper from 35 yards out.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when Mateo Chavez was sent off for slapping Berhalter across the face, amid a melee prompted by his own late challenge on Yunus Musah. 

And there was more self-inflicted pain for Mexico in the 84th minute as Tillman intercepted Alvaro Fidalgo's pass and lashed into the top-left corner.

Young Stars and Stripes shine again

Coming off the back of a traumatic World Cup elimination at the hands of Belgium in Seattle, this international break has proven very therapeutic for the USA.

Several new players have made the most of the opportunities handed to them by Pochettino, with Sullivan the latest – and the youngest – to do so.

The USA's youngest goalscorer record stood for just over 10 years between Christian Pulisic netting against Bolivia at 17 years and 253 days old in May 2016, and Albert overhauling him earlier this week.

But Albert's name was only in the record books for four days, with Sullivan capping a lively performance with a moment to remember. No USA player completed more dribbles than his three (from four attempted), while he won eight of his 11 duels in total.

The USA had lost each of their previous two games against Mexico, including the 2025 Gold Cup final, but they have now won six of the teams' last 10 meetings overall (D2 L2).