On the morning of Feb. 10, 16-year-old striker Chase Adams was just another youth player. By the time he went to bed, he was a social media sensation. By the next morning, he was being compared to his idol, Erling Haaland. It all happened that fast.
Over the course of 90 minutes, Adams’ life changed. That’s what happens when you deliver the most absurd goalscoring performance in American youth soccer history.
By the final whistle, Adams had scored 10 goals, leading the U.S. U-17 men’s national team to a record-breaking 22-0 win over the U.S. Virgin Islands and helping secure a spot in the U-17 World Cup. The 22 goals set a new record for a U.S. team in World Cup qualifying, while Adams’ 10 shattered the mark for most goals scored by an American player in a single qualifying match.
They started calling him Baby Haaland, and Adams fully embraces it. After all, how cool must it be to remind people of one of your favorite players?
“Maybe he’s heard of me!” Adams says with a laugh. “It’s pretty sick to think about that idea.”
Even if the Manchester City star isn’t aware of him — at least not yet — many in American soccer now are. With every shot that found its mark, Adams’ life changed a little more. He’s okay with that. After all, this is what he’s always wanted: to be a player who commands attention with one strike of the ball — or, in this case, 10 in 90 minutes.
“I’m trying to handle it like nothing’s changed,” Adams tells GOAL. “Obviously, now I’ve had interviews with CBS and GOAL and all of that, but my family and my host family in Columbus are doing a really good job of making sure my head doesn’t get too big. They keep me grounded, and a lot of jokes get thrown my way.
“Still, it’s different. After the game, I jumped from like 3,000 followers to 6,000, and now I have 9,000. A lot of it is just jokes, I know, but one game isn’t going to decide my future for, hopefully, the next 15 years. I hope this is an opportunity to show what I can do in the future. It makes me want to push myself even more because this is what I’ve always wanted — to be known because of my play.”
That’s Adams’ goal now — proving he’s more than just this one moment. It won’t be easy. Topping a 10-goal performance is nearly impossible. But while it may feel like it’s all downhill from here, there’s still so much ahead.
His viral moment was just the beginning, but it hasn’t drastically changed his path with the Columbus Crew. He remains part of the club’s youth pipeline, just as he was before. An MLS debut is a goal, but realistically, it’s still a ways off. Life off the field may be different, but with the Crew, it’s business as usual.
Those 10 goals will always be part of his story, but Adams hopes they’ll become just a footnote in something much bigger — just like the player whose nickname he now carries.
“Once the dice do fall your way, all you can do is just take it and run,” he says. “You don’t look back.”
GOAL sat down with Adams for the latest edition of Scouting, to learn more about his game, how he’s handling the spotlight, and his quest to prove he’s more than just a viral moment…