Olivier Mbaizo becomes the first active Union player to make a World Cup team

Union right back Olivier Mbaizo on Wednesday became the first active player in the club’s 13-year existence to make a World Cup roster.

Mbaizo was named to Cameroon’s 26-player squad for the tournament in Qatar, a long-awaited reward for his growth in Philadelphia. He had already left town for the tournament when the roster was announced, so there was no time for an interview or a statement. But he has spoken often with The Inquirer this year about playing in the World Cup, and his dream has now come true.

Fans might have figured over the years that the first Union player to make a World Cup squad would be a high-priced European import or a marquee product of the team’s youth academy. But it’s neither of those. Instead, it’s a player who has quietly blazed one of the most impressive development trails in Union history.

The 25-year-old from Douala, Cameroon came here in January 2018, first signing with the Union’s reserve squad when it was known as Bethlehem Steel. He made his first-team debut in September of that year, then spent the next three seasons as Ray Gaddis’ backup. Mbaizo took over the starting job in late 2020, then Gaddis retired in early 2021 and it was Mbaizo’s to keep.

Along the way, Mbaizo’s stock rose with Cameroon’s national team. After earning his first senior national team caps in late 2020, he was the Indomitable Lions’ starting right back in four of their six World Cup qualifying group stage games.

» READ MORE: Olivier Mbaizo's last interview with The Inquirer before making the World Cup team

But this year got off to a rough start. Though Mbaizo made Cameroon’s squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, a tactical change relegated him to backup status. And because of the tournament, he missed much of the Union’s preseason. Then he played poorly in the team’s season opener, and manager Jim Curtin benched him.

Just as academy product Nathan Harriel was starting to hit a rookie wall, Mbaizo was putting in a lot of work behind the scenes – especially to improve his defensive acumen. He started earning starts again in late June, and by August had not just regained the starting spot, but locked it down.

In the playoffs, Mbaizo started all four games, and his last two were among his finest ever performances in a Union shirt. He had nine defensive recoveries and won seven duels in the Eastern Conference final win over New York City FC, then had 12 defensive recoveries and completed 33 of 48 passes in the championship game loss at LAFC.

The odds are good that Mbaizo has played his last game for the Union, because if European suitors come calling, the team will likely cash in. But if he takes the field in Qatar, he will be listed as a Union player.

» READ MORE: Paxten Aaronson, Olivier Mbaizo and Kai Wagner may have played their last games for the Union

The closest the Union have come before was in 2014. Carlos Valdés made Colombia’s World Cup squad that year while on loan away from the Union so he could win the favor of the national team’s manager. He left Philadelphia at the start of 2013 for the first of back-to-back back loan moves to South American clubs, and didn’t play for the Union again until after the World Cup ended.

Alejandro Bedoya was the next candidate to be the first. He probably would have been on the U.S. team in 2018 had it qualified. But Bedoya could only watch from the bench as the Americans suffered the disastrous loss in Couva, Trinidad that kept them out of Russia.

Now the wait will finally end, coincidentally in a year when there are multiple MLS players on Cameroon’s squad. Seattle Sounders left back Nouhou Tolo also made the team, and he and Mbaizo have been friends since childhood.

“We always talked about how it was our dream to play with the national team,” Mbaizo told The Inquirer last November. “It’s something to be proud of, and it makes me happy that all the work we’ve put in since childhood has put us in a good place.”

» READ MORE: Philadelphia helped MLS Cup draw its biggest U.S. TV audience in 25 years

Mbaizo also knows that one of his former Union teammates will also be in Qatar. Medford’s Brenden Aaronson will be on the U.S. team, not as a Union player but certainly in the hearts of every Union fan.

Alas, Mbaizo and Aaronson likely won’t cross paths. In theory, Cameroon and the U.S. could meet in the quarterfinals, but both teams would have to get out of their groups and land in just the right parts of the bracket. (The U.S. squad also includes two of Nouhou’s Sounders teammates, Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan.)

Cameroon is not favored to advance from a group that has powerhouse Brazil and two good European teams in Switzerland and Serbia. But the Indomitable Lions’ squad is capable of an upset, with goalkeeper Andre Onana (Inter Milan) and forwards Karl Toko Ekambi (Lyon), Bryan Mbuemo (Brentford), and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Bayern Munich).

That is for later, though. Now is a moment to celebrate, for Mbaizo and for the Union.

» READ MORE: U.S. men’s World Cup team full of surprises: Haji Wright and Tim Ream in, Zack Steffen out

Thursday, Nov. 24: vs. Switzerland at Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah, Qatar, 5 a.m. (FS1, Telemundo 62)

Monday, Nov. 28: vs. Serbia at Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah, Qatar, 5 a.m. (FS1, Telemundo 62)

Friday, Dec. 2: vs. Brazil at Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar, 2 p.m. (Fox29, Telemundo 62)

Goalkeepers (3): Simon Ngapandouetnbu (Marseille, France), Devis Epassy (Abha, Saudi Arabia), Andre Onana (Inter Milan, Italy)

Defenders (7): Nicolas Nkoulou (Aris Thessaloniki, Greece), Christopher Wooh (Rennes, France), Nouhou Tolo (Seattle Sounders), Olivier Mbaizo (Philadelphia Union), Collins Fai (Al-Tai, Saudi Arabia), Jean-Charles Castelletto (Nantes, France), Enzo Ebosse (Udinese, Italy)

Midfielders (7): Olivier Ntcham (Swansea City, England), Pierre Kunde (Olympiacos, Greece), Martin Hongla (Hellas Verona, Italy), Samuel Gouet (Mechelen, Belgium), Gael Ondoua (Hannover 96, Germany), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Napoli, Italy), Jerome Ngom (Colombe Dja, Cameroon)

Forwards (9): Moumi Ngamaleu (Dynamo Moscow, Russia), Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (Besiktas, Turkey), Vincent Aboubakar (Al-Nassr, Saudi Arabia), Karl Toko Ekambi (Lyon, France), Jean-Pierre Nsame (Young Boys, Switzerland), Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford, England), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Bayern Munich, Germany), Christian Bassogog (Shanghai Shenhua, China), Marou Souaibou (Coton Sport, Cameroon)

» READ MORE: Brenden Aaronson celebrates making the U.S. men’s World Cup team