Peyton Miller, 18, and Brooklyn Raines, 21, sat in Gillette Stadium watching Germany and Paraguay play in the Round of 32 game at the FIFA World Cup. While regulars on various youth national teams – and participants at the U-20 World Cup – neither has made their U.S. Men’s National Team debut.
But one thought crept across their mind.
“One day that could be us,” Raines recalled to The Blazing Musket.
The honor of wearing the colors of the country while standing shoulder-to-shoulder with your teammates is not to be taken lightly. Miller, who has earned over 20 youth caps, explained, “It’s a special feeling.”
Each appearance, of course, carries meaning, but the New England Revolution Homegrown – who just signed a contract extension – has his sights set on the senior team, especially with the next World Cup four years away.
“My goal is to be on that [national] team, and the ultimate goal is obviously winning the World Cup,” Miller said.
Having a trusted coach and like-minded players around him will help with the process.
“Just taking things day by day, obviously remaining humble, but also trusting ourselves, that we’re good enough to definitely make that 2030 roster,” Raines said.
"A lot of parents cussed me out when I was younger.”
In his first start for the Revolution in July 2024, Miller – then 16 – created two chances (including the Revs’ goal) and had two shots (including one that hit the woodwork).
But the play that perhaps defines him most saw him outpace an FC Dallas player to win the ball, for which he received a hard foul. After the game, he described it as a “life or death situation.”
“That’s a mentality on the field,” Miller said. “I’m very competitive. I want to win every single game.”
It wasn’t always this way for Miller, who had to be coaxed onto the field when he began playing at age three. While his family still jests about his modest beginnings, they’ve also played a big part in his development.
Larry, his father, spent countless hours running him through drills, which Miller joked was “crazy stuff you wouldn’t even think of.” If he messed up during a dribbling or shooting exercise, Larry would have him run sprints.
“That’s the stuff that makes you better,” Miller said. “It’s stuff like that that builds the mentality and the mindset. Just doing it almost every single day.”
Miller came to appreciate his father for running 5 am sessions before work, saying, “That’s the guy I want to be like.” Soon, the quiet kid was a menace on the field.
Playing for Farmington Soccer Club and then Oakwood Soccer Club, Miller would sometimes score four or more goals in a game.
“They hated me,” Miller said with a laugh. “That’s all I can really say: they hated me. A lot of parents cussed me out when I was younger.”
He joined the Revolution Academy at age 13, a commitment that required his parents to sometimes leave work early so they could make the two-hour trip to training.
Schoolwork was frequently completed in the car in between conversations with Larry and his mother, Lindsay. The family often wouldn’t get home until midnight.
The decision was then made for Miller to move away from Unionville, Conn., to live in the Revolution’s residency homes.
Miller, who wrote in his fourth-grade yearbook that he aspired to be a professional soccer player and had a poster of Diego Fagundez in his room, understood the sacrifices he had to make.
“That’s what I had to do to make my dream come true,” Miller said. “It was difficult because I lost that time growing up as a kid with my family, and also that high school experience.”
Miller signed his first professional contract at 15 years and 216 days old, while Fagundez signed at 15 years and 274 days old. The deals were 13 years apart.
After excelling at Revs II, Miller became the second-youngest player to make his Revolution debut, behind Fagundez.
The two now share a locker room and have even assisted each other. Miller calls it “a dream.”
“He helps me every single day,” Miller said of Fagundez. “[He tells me], ‘Just keep going, no matter what. You make a mistake, just keep going. Don’t worry about the little things. Stuff happens. It’s in the past. Just focus on the next moment.”
"For his age, he's very mature."
When Raines first met Miller at a U-20 camp, he was surprised to learn that he was one of the youngest players there.
“For his age, he’s very mature,” Raines said. “He takes care of his body, takes care of the sleep. He does all the right things.”
Miller, who grew up playing against older brother Logan, has always been one of the youngest on the team. It’s forced him to adapt quickly in order to compete against opponents who are sometimes bigger, stronger, or more experienced.
Of course, Miller does allow himself to be a kid at times. While he had a graduation celebration at the Revolution Training Center, he also attended prom and his friends' graduation parties.
He enjoys fishing, going to the beach, and playing the guitar, and has been known to make TikToks.
His friends sometimes joke that they are in the presence of a professional soccer player, but those comments have thankfully dissipated with time.
“They know that when I go to these things with them, I want to be in the present moment,” Miller said. “I just want to chill, be a kid, and relax.”
When he’s on the field, it’s hard to believe he’s only 18. With a top speed of 35.3 km/hr according to SofaScore, he’s among the fastest clocked on the Revs. He’s also scored three goals this year, tied for second-most on the team.
But glimmers of his youth sometimes seep through when he’s off the field. For Miller, it’s about striking a balance.
“It was during the beginning of the season,” Raines said when reminiscing about Miller. “He and I were eating about five-plus pancakes for breakfast, and then they confiscated them and took them away. So now we can’t have them anymore.
“We don’t know if they’ll bring them back, but people just talk about it a lot to us, about getting the pancakes taken away. But hopefully further down the line we’ll get them back.”
"Right now this is where I want to be."
When Miller moved into the Revolution residency home, he lived with Esmir Bajraktarević. The two formed a kinship while playing for the second and first teams.
“If I had a bad training or bad game, he was always honest with me," Miller said. "That's what I respect about him.”
Bajraktarević was sold to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands in 2025 in a deal worth up to $6 million. One year later, he played for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Cup.
Despite being an ocean away, the two remain in contact, with Miller saying he’s “for sure a guy I look up to.”
Miller could one day follow Bajraktarević’s footsteps, with general manager and chief soccer officer Chris Tierney explaining, “There is plenty of interest from around the globe in Peyton Miller.”
There have been several reports linking Miller to European teams, and people are quick to offer their opinions, but Miller doesn’t think much about it.
“I know what my goals are and what I want for my future, and right now this is where I want to be,” Miller said. “And to be honest, I just look at stuff and kind of just laugh a little bit because only I know what I want and what's good for me.”
When asked what needs to happen before he transfers elsewhere, Miller simply said, “When that time is right, I'll feel it.”
There’s a lot of pride that comes with playing for your hometown club, but Miller is also in a place that will help him develop.
Tierney, who called Miller a “very high-potential player” whose athletic ability is “at an elite level in comparison to players in his position across the world,” explained that they’re “still developing the technical side with Peyton.”
Some of that has to do with Miller fluctuating between positions. Originally an attacker, Miller was moved to left back. This year, he’s played both spots.
“I think one of his highest qualities is arriving in the final third,” head coach Marko Mitrovic said. “He has a natural instinct to scoring goals, which can help his game and his career, to help separate him from other players.
“Something that we’re still working on and have to improve is his defending, especially defending in the defending third. That’s a part of the game where it will help him to be even better.”
Miller trusts that Mitrovic, who also coached him at the U-20s, can help him reach his full potential, saying, “I feel like Marko is what I need right now as a player to keep growing.”
His teammates have also been helpful.
Veterans like Andrew Farrell and Matt Polster provide daily advice, while younger players like Raines, Ethan Kohler (21), Marcos Zambrano (21), and Griffin Yow (23) share a similar vision.
“We've all played with each other at the national team, so we hold each other to a very high standard,” Miller said.
While Miller has achieved a lot for someone his age, the best is yet to come. But instead of gravitating to some grandiose plan, the kid from New England is focusing on the day-to-day.
“For me, there’s a lot that I think that I need to work on, and I have so much belief in Marko,” Miller said. “He holds me to a high standard and [high] expectations, so I just think that there’s a lot more for me to accomplish here, and there’s stuff that I need to do before [I move elsewhere].”
