The thing to know about Matthew Corcoran’s transfer on Tuesday from Birmingham Legion FC to Nashville SC is this – he earned it.

When he joined the professional ranks with Legion just over three years ago as a 15-year-old, having previously made two appearances for North Texas SC in USL League One as a USL Academy signing, he was well-regarded, but hadn’t yet received a call-up in the United States Youth National Team set-up.

During the past three seasons with Legion, he’s established himself as one of the top teenage midfielders in the country, most recently ascending to the United States U-20 Men’s National Team this January as it began preparations for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in September.

• INSPIRED BY GOMEZ: Corcoran is part of the second wave of young talent that has chosen to start its professional career in the USL Championship. The success of one of his predecessors at the FC Dallas Academy, Jonathan Gomez, showed the way for Corcoran, who arrived in Birmingham eager to pursue the same upward path.

• BREAKING OUT: After getting his feet wet in 2022, Corcoran became a central piece for Legion two years ago. He logged more than 2,000 minutes of action as a 17-year-old across all competitions, the youngest player in a veteran-laden Birmingham squad that reached the Quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

• EARNING A TICKET: Those performances saw Corcoran get his shot with the U.S. U-17 National Team in its final camp before the selections for the 2023 U-17 World Cup were made. He rose to the moment, earning his place on the plane in Head Coach Gonzalo Segares’ squad.

“I was just really excited because I felt that I’d been having a good year, a good season,” said Corcoran after earning his spot. “To hear that news come in and to have an opportunity to go make a name for myself for the World Cup was something I was very excited about.”

From there, he went from strength to strength. Corcoran started the final two group stage games in Indonesia, impressing onlookers and his manager, and retained his position in the knockout stage where the U.S. fell 3-2 in a back-and-forth tilt with eventual winner Germany.

“For somebody that came in late towards the team he has adapted really well with the culture,” said Segares during the tournament. “He is very professional, the way that he behaves and the way that he prepares for these games and, yeah, he has given us a boost there in the midfield.”

While there was an injury setback last preseason that sidelined him for much of the 2024 campaign, the promise Corcoran possesses remained undeniable. Soon after he returned to action with Birmingham, he was named in the U.S. U-19s squad before shifting to the U-20s this January.

Now, he’ll follow the path of other young talents like Diego Luna, Fidel Barajas and most recently Elijah Wynder into Major League Soccer, where he’ll take the next step in his career.

If the past three years have taught us anything, Corcoran will be ready to step up to the mark in Music City.

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