S
occer-crazed kids around the world grow up with two dreams: play professionally and play for their country.
But for most soccer players, especially collegiate players in the United States, those dreams are far easier said than achieved.
The clearest path to go pro is through the MLS SuperDraft, where the top 1% of collegiate players are selected each December. Yet, only 37% of draft picks signed a first-team contract last year, and only 32% of MLS’s active players have suited up for their national team.
Syracuse is an outlier. Under legendary coaches Dean Foti and Ian McIntyre, the Orange have consistently produced professional stars — several appearing at the international stage.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup expanding to 48 teams — the most it’s ever featured — Syracuse alums from across the world will have a greater shot at realizing that universal dream.
A select few have already had a taste of the global stage. While several SU alums compete with their nations in the November international window, six players spoke with The Daily Orange to recount the defining moments of their journeys.
• • •
When the Canadian men’s national team walked out for its first match of the 2022 World Cup, its starting XI made Syracuse soccer history.
Tajon Buchanan linked arms with teammates to his side as “O Canada” played. To Buchanan’s right, Kamal Miller closed his eyes and sang.
Miller felt like he was standing there for 10 minutes. Tears ran down his face.
“Former teammates popping into my head, former coaches, friends and family, seeing my parents and my wife there in the crowd, everything just came so full circle,” Miller said.
“To be there in that moment, all the times I’ve been told no, where I’ve been cut, where things didn’t go my way…it just felt like, in that moment, everything made sense,” he added.
Meanwhile, Buchanan reflected on fulfilling a lifelong dream.
“As a kid, you dream of playing in the Champions League, and you dream about playing in the World Cup for your country,” Buchanan said. “I think that’s definitely up there with one of the best moments of my career so far.”
Four years prior, Buchanan and Miller shared the field for Syracuse. They overlapped from 2017-18, when both earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors. Buchanan went ninth overall in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft. Miller was chosen 18 picks later.
Tajon Buchanan and Kamal Miller celebrate a goal with Canada’s senior national team. Buchanan and Miller spent two years together at Syracuse before taking separate paths through professional soccer. Courtesy of Beau Chevalier | Canada Soccer
Miller was first called up to Canada’s senior team in June 2019. He knew he wasn’t one of the key players. He expected to sit on the bench, learn the ropes and show enough in training to be invited back.
Instead, he was subbed in 60 minutes into Canada’s second match of the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Cuba.
“I did one jog up and down the sideline, and then all of a sudden I was in the game,” Miller said. “It was all so fast to process, but just going on and finally solidifying my name as one of the guys who got to play for the national team out of a big pool, I was so honored.”
Miller’s been a staple of the national team since, making 49 appearances for Canada.
In June 2021, Miller’s collegiate teammate joined him. Buchanan got his first senior team call-up for Canada’s World Cup Qualifiers against Aruba, where he tallied two assists. He’s since made 55 appearances for his country, helping him jump to some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
“Putting on that Canada jersey for the first time was a dream come true,” Buchanan said.
Miller and Buchanan agreed the peak of their Canada careers was qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, its first time making the competition. They became the first Syracuse alums to play in a World Cup when both started on Nov. 23, 2022, against Belgium.
“We were just like, ‘We did it,’” Miller said. “Where we come from, nobody dreams of that. We dream of playing professionally, but playing in a World Cup against these kinds of players, that’s a special feeling.”
Miller and Buchanan will have another chance to compete in seven months. Canada automatically qualified as a joint host of the 2026 World Cup. This time, it’s hoping to establish itself as a true contender.
“Growing up, playing against the U.S. and Mexico, all we wanted was respect,” Miller said. “I believe we have that respect now, and it’s about taking it to another level and becoming a threat on the world stage.”
• • •
In summer 1996, Paul Young had a decision to make.
The Jamaican midfielder was fresh off a stellar two-year stretch with USL side Charleston Battery, where he scored 48 goals in 46 appearances. So, Columbus Crew selected him with the 121st pick in the inaugural MLS SuperDraft.
Young spent three seasons at Syracuse from 1990-92. He said he enjoyed the traditional American college experience while playing alongside athletes from the U.S., Canada and the Cayman Islands.
He’d rarely seen snow like upstate New York’s, and he was grateful the Orange played indoors at the then-Carrier Dome.
On the pitch, Young dominated. He earned second-team All-American honors as a senior and scored 32 career goals — the fifth-most in program history.
He’d made a name for himself back home, too. Young earned his first Jamaica senior team call-up as an 18-year-old in 1987 but became a fixture of the national team after his time at SU. Young was one of the Reggae Boyz’ top scorers as it tried to qualify for the 1998 World Cup, flying home every international window to play.
It became such a common occurrence for Young that the Columbus Crew grew frustrated with his availability. So, he was offered an ultimatum: Either play for Jamaica, or play for the Crew.
He had one night to sleep on it. He had to follow his heart.
“I want to try to qualify this team for the World Cup, so I choose Jamaica,” Young recalls telling Columbus manager Timo Liekoski.
Paul Young is featured on a trading card from 1998. After his time at Syracuse, Young scored 22 goals for Jamaica and helped it qualify for the 1998 World Cup. Courtesy of Paul Young
The Reggae Boyz were glad he did. Young bagged 11 goals in 31 matches between 1996 and 1997, helping Jamaica make its first-ever World Cup.
However, Young was left out of the squad that traveled to France due to controversies inside the federation. Manager René Simões wanted to recruit non-native Jamaican players — several born in England with Jamaican parentage — rather than sticking with the local players who helped it qualify, Young said.
Young and some of his teammates stood against the decision, and consequently not named to the roster.
“We were like… ‘You can’t be serious. This is our team that’s been here for two years. I just cancelled my contract in MLS to go and play for Jamaica, and now you’re going to tell us you’re going to go all over the world to find the best players?’” Young said. “But if I had to do it all over again, I’d do the same.”
With results against Trinidad and Tobago and Curaçao this week, Jamaica will qualify for the 2026 World Cup for the first time since Young’s 1998 team. He remains Jamaica’s fourth all-time leading scorer with 22 goals in 49 appearances. And he’ll never forget the pride that came with each one.
“The thought of shaking the prime minister’s hand, the anthem is playing and you’re singing the song with your name on the back of your jersey. You look in the stands and people are here to watch you, and you’re representing them. There’s no greater feeling in the world,” Young said.
• • •
Matt Orr had always been an attacker. He’d never known anything else. From Kitchee SC in Hong Kong to IMG Academy in Florida, Orr developed as a striker and winger.
But when Orr arrived on the West Coast to begin his collegiate career at the University of San Francisco, things were different. His coaches needed a ball-playing left-sided defender. Orr was their first choice.
The position followed him as he transferred to Syracuse. After he graduated, Orr returned home to Hong Kong. He’d been told by San Francisco’s coaches that he could have a future as a defender, but Kitchee didn’t buy it.
“They put me straight up top, and I never looked back,” Orr said.
Since returning to his natural position, Orr, who spent one year at Syracuse in 2019, has emerged as one of Asia’s most prolific strikers. He’s become a staple for Hong Kong’s national team over the past four years, scoring 12 goals in 44 appearances.
Orr was born in Hamilton, Hong Kong, and moved to the U.S. at 14 to attend IMG. He earned a scholarship at San Francisco, where he earned All-West Coast Conference honors. Orr wanted a bigger challenge, though, so he joined Syracuse for his final year.
Matt Orr takes on a defender while representing Hong Kong. Orr played at Syracuse in 2019 before returning home to Hong Kong and starring for his country. Courtesy of Matt Orr
His goal was to stay in the U.S. as long as possible, but he didn’t have many opportunities after college.
“It had always been a big ambition of mine to come back and represent Hong Kong,” Orr said. “I think it was difficult to do because, when you’re in college, (Hong Kong’s coaches) don’t know too much about college football and they don’t watch the games too much. I never really got that opportunity.”
When he returned home, though, the national team came calling. Orr earned his first senior team call-up for Hong Kong’s World Cup Qualifier against Asian powerhouse Iran on June 3, 2021. In his debut, he scored a header for his first senior team goal.
“I wanted to make my mark on the team, and I wanted to be the No. 9 for Hong Kong,” Orr said. “That was always my ambition, and I was very hungry to prove myself.”
Orr’s since established himself as Hong Kong’s bagsman. He led his country to unprecedented heights, notably a 2023 Asian Cup appearance and a semifinal run in the 2023 Asian Games. For Orr, it’s been “incredibly special” to represent his country and watch it grow as a footballing nation.
“I never let a game or a training session go by where I don’t try and do that jersey justice,” Orr said.
While Hong Kong won’t appear in the 2026 World Cup, even mentioning a World Cup qualification would’ve felt outrageous a few years ago. Now, the new format has given it hope.
And Orr, who was named his country’s captain in October, will be at the forefront of it all.
• • •
Four decades before Nicholas Kaloukian stepped on a soccer field, his grandfather fled Lebanon with only a suitcase.
At 30 years old, Yessasi Kaloukian, an Armenian, was living in Lebanon when war broke out. He left to move to the United States, settling in New Jersey. It became home for the next two generations of his family and the starting point of Kaloukian’s soccer career.
Growing up in New Jersey, Kaloukian drew inspiration from his family’s heritage, particularly his grandfather, who also played professional soccer. It prompted him to represent Armenia as a youth player.
When he got to college, Kaloukian earned Big 10 All-Freshman Team honors with Michigan in 2022 before transferring to the reigning national champion Orange. In two years with SU, Kaloukian bagged six goals and an assist.
While he had a year of eligibility remaining, Kaloukian knew he was ready for the next step. His time with Armenia’s Under-21s opened doors in the Armenian Premier League. So, FC Urartu, a club in the nation’s capital of Yerevan, offered him a preseason trial.
“I wanted to play for the national team,” Kaloukian said. “Being (in Armenia) would give me the best chance.”
Kaloukian flew to Dubai for preseason training without a contract. He left three weeks later as a professional footballer. And it didn’t take him long to impress, scoring in his Urartu debut.
Nicholas Kaloukian stands on the pitch in Armenia’s 3-0 loss to Georgia in the UEFA Nations League on March 20. Kaloukian played 32 minutes in his international debut. Courtesy of Nicholas Kaloukian
When the March international window rolled around, Kaloukian was selected to Armenia’s senior team for its UEFA Nations League matchups with Georgia. He debuted on March 20.
“Players go years and they don’t get a chance (to play for the national team),” Kaloukian said. “For me, being a pro for less than a month, getting called up, it was a pretty crazy experience.”
Kaloukian’s father, John, was in attendance for his son’s debut. Kaloukian scanned the stands for his dad, as he’d done at every Syracuse game John attended. But among 60,000 fans, it was the first time in his life he couldn’t find him.
Kaloukian settled onto the Armenian bench for kick-off. Ten feet away, he saw Champions League winner and Paris Saint-Germain forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia warming up alongside several Georgian stars.
“For me to be playing in college a few months ago, and then all of a sudden I look up and it’s 60,000 fans, it was just crazy,” Kaloukian said. “It makes you realize there’s levels to the game. You think you’re doing great and you see guys out there that are doing it effortlessly.”
Around the 60th minute, team manager Levon Tomvmasyan handed a substitution card to the referee.
He turned to Kaloukian and said, “Go show the world.”
Growing up, Kaloukian often watched soccer on television with his grandfather. When the two tuned into ESPN, his grandfather often told him, “I want to see you on that TV someday.”
When Kaloukian ran onto the pitch that spring evening, he pointed two fingers to the sky. It’s exactly what his grandfather had wished for.
• • •
Sachiel Ming was playing like he had nothing to lose. Why else would the right back be sitting in the 18-yard box in the final moments of a World Cup Qualifier?
As an 18-year-old in one of his first senior team camps, most players might be focused on not making mistakes. Instead, when Ming subbed on for Bermuda against Antigua and Barbuda on June 5, 2024, his coaches told him to play freely.
So, Ming did just that. While he’s currently a left winger for Syracuse, he subbed on as a right back. But, down 1-0 in the final moments, he sprinted forward as Bermuda looked for a last-second leveler.
Ming, 30 yards from goal, played an incisive pass to Jai Bean, whose shot from outside the box was blocked. It spilled to the left side of the box toward forward Kane Crichlow. While Crichlow recovered the shot, Ming said to himself, “I might as well get in the box and try to get a rebound.”
Ming dashed into the area, received a pass from Crichlow at the six-yard box and blasted the ball into the back of the net for his first senior team score.
“It was an unbelievable experience and I’ll never forget it,” Ming said.
Sachiel Ming celebrates after Bermuda’s 1-1 draw with Antigua and Barbuda on June 5, 2024. Ming scored his first senior team goal in the World Cup Qualifier. Courtesy of SU Athletics
Ming grew up attending national team games whenever he could. He climbed the youth ranks as he moved from his hometown of Southampton to a boarding school in Lake Placid, New York. Ever since enrolling at Syracuse in 2024, Ming’s become a key piece in Bermuda’s young core.
“Putting on that pink jersey, it’s like playing for the boys who don’t get to be in my position right now, playing for the kids growing up who didn’t get to make it as far as they could have,” Ming said. “Every time I go back home and every time I play, it’s always love, no matter what the result is.”
His time with the national team began as a 13-year-old playing for Bermuda’s U-15s. He spent a few years away from the national team after moving to the United States for high school, but re-emerged as a star for the U-20s.
His performances in the youth system earned him his first senior team call-up for Bermuda’s March 2024 FIFA Series trip to Saudi Arabia. He played well enough in friendlies versus Guinea and Brunei to travel to Bermuda’s 2026 World Cup Qualifier camp in June.
When his shot hit the back of the net in the 90th minute against Antigua and Barbuda, Ming sprinted toward midfield and leapt into the air. His family, watching at a pub in Bermuda, was overjoyed.
It felt like a beautiful bookend to Ming’s career with his country. But he knows it’s only the beginning.
• • •
Since McIntyre took over in 2010, Syracuse has had 23 players drafted to MLS, over 10 play for their countries’ senior national teams and two appear in a World Cup.
“You can walk in our stadium for free and watch future pros play,” SU assistant coach Jukka Masalin said. “At the end of the day, it’s a huge joy for us as a staff and as a program to see these guys grow and move on and do well.”
Alums credit that to SU’s ability to develop college students in a professional environment. McIntyre doesn’t believe in sitting freshmen, Miller said.
“We’re all one team, there’s responsibility on everyone, no matter how old you are, where you come from, you have a responsibility when you wear that badge,” Miller said. “It helped build me up by putting that responsibility on me right away.”
Young said SU prepared him for the independence that comes with being a professional footballer. As transfers, Orr and Kaloukian agreed Syracuse felt like a professional club, which helped them take a step up before playing abroad.
“The intensity every day in training and the real ambition to be successful from the coaches and players, there were definitely very high standards,” Orr said. “I think my time at Syracuse really set me up for going into the professional footballing world.”
As long as Syracuse maintains its professional standard, it’ll keep bringing its players — and its legacy — to the biggest stages in the sport.
Sports Editor Noah Nussbaum contributed reporting to this article.
Collage by Ilana Zahavy | Presentation Director, Photos Courtesy of Beau Chevalier | Canada Soccer, Courtesy of Nicholas Kaloukian, Courtesy of Matt Orr
Published on November 12, 2025 at 11:54 pm