Julian Hall’s breakout season continued on Wednesday night as the Red Bull New York wonder kid became the youngest player in MLS history to record a hat trick in the Red Bulls’ 3-2 win over Columbus Crew.
The 18-year-old Hall now has nine goals this season in MLS play and 12 goals across all competitions for the Red Bulls, who have now won back-to-back games in less than a week.
The Polish-American dual national now holds the record for the youngest player to score a hat trick in league history at 18 years and 50 days, surpassing the previous record holder, U.S. Men’s National Team striker Ricardo Pepi, who did it at 18 years and 195 days in 2021.
Hall scored his first goal of the night when he finished on a cross in the box from Cade Cowell in the seventh minute.
It was Cowell again who helped set up Hall for his second goal of the night — and his second brace of the season — when he sent another cross from the right side of the pitch into the box.
Hall deflected the ball past Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte to give the Red Bulls a 2-1 lead in the 40th minute.
His third goal of the night came in the 78th minute when he cleaned up a loose ball in front of the net to give the Red Bulls their third lead of the night, with this one sticking for the final 12 minutes.
Hall’s success this season has propelled him ahead of Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in the Red Bulls lineup. It has also put him into the cursory national team conversation.
It’s unlikely that Hall would make a real run at the U.S. Men’s National Team’s roster for the World Cup next month, but at the rate he is scoring, he could at least be in the conversation in the final weeks before head coach Mauricio Pochettino decides on his team later this month.
Poland’s national team has been making a hard push to recruit Hall, with federation president Cezary Kulesza visiting Hall’s mother in New York in April
