Team USA star Ricardo Pepi grew up in a trailer in El Paso—and his parents pawned their car title to fuel his soccer dream. Now, he’s in the World Cup

When Ricardo Pepi suited up for Team USA’s World Cup opener against Paraguay on Friday, it marked more than just another milestone for one of America’s brightest soccer stars. For his parents, Daniel and Annette Pepi, it was the culmination of years of sacrifice—and proof that the struggle may have been worth it.

Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, Pepi grew up in modest circumstances. Daniel was just 23 when he became a father. Annette was 16. The family lived in a trailer, scraping by while trying to give their son a shot at an unlikely dream.

“We kind of started our life from nothing, trying to live day by day,” Daniel Pepi recalled in The Long Game, a new book about U.S. men’s soccer. “Back in El Paso, life was not that easy. Starting a family, you have to work long days and sometimes it’s really hard.”

Hard work was core to Daniel’s identity—after all, he had started working at age 13 in concrete finishing—but as Ricardo’s soccer talent emerged, so did the costs. Elite youth tournaments meant frequent travel, expenses that often stretched the family to its limit.

“You used to do whatever you needed to do to get that money and take them,” Daniel said. “Sometimes we used to borrow some money. Sometimes I would ask for a loan at my job, or from my dad. Sometimes I had to pawn the title to the car. Whatever we had to do to just keep going.”

The sacrifices came with expectations. Ricardo has said his father’s willingness to invest time and money into his soccer career also instilled a relentless work ethic.

“When he thought I was being lazy, he would always get me off the field and he would take me home and say, ‘If you don’t want to play, then throw your uniform away, your boots away. You’re not going to waste my time or my money,'” Ricardo said in the book. “It was really direct, but I feel like I’m here for that reason.”

Ricardo Pepi’s family sacrifices built a foundation on grit—and are now paying multimillion-dollar dividends

Those sacrifices ultimately helped propel Pepi to soccer’s biggest stage. He made his MLS debut at 16 and earned his first U.S. Men’s National Team call-up at 18. In 2023, he joined Dutch team PSV Eindhoven in a transfer reportedly worth roughly $10 million, one of the largest fees ever paid for an American striker.

Now 23, Pepi is expected to be a core piece of Team USA’s squad as the U.S. hopes to make a deep World Cup run on home turf. 

His rise has also brought a significant financial upside. FIFA’s winning national team can earn up to $50 million in prize money, funds that are often distributed, at least in part, among players and team personnel. Though Pepi’s exact net worth is unclear, his earnings have likely climbed into the seven figures in recent years through club contracts, performance bonuses, and endorsements, including with Fortune 500 brands like Home Depot, Allstate, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Elite athletes to Fortune 500 CEOs agree: the power of hard work is unbeatable

Pepi’s rise from a trailer in El Paso to the World Cup stage underscores a lesson that extends far beyond sports: talent matters, but discipline and persistence separate potential from success. 

Former NBA player Metta World Peace told Fortune earlier this year that he learned that lesson firsthand from Kobe Bryant. Curious whether stories about Bryant’s relentless work ethic were true, World Peace decided to test them himself.

He showed up to the gym at 8 a.m.—what he considered an early start—expecting to catch Bryant midway through a workout. Instead, Bryant was already finished.

“He was all showered up. He was done,” the 46-year-old recalled. “And I thought I was working hard!”

The lesson stuck: even if you think you’re putting in the effort, there is often someone—maybe even on your own team—willing to work harder.

Top business leaders often frame success in similar terms. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, for example, has argued that success in any field often begins with a willingness to start small and put in the work.

“If you aren’t willing to start at the bottom and pay your dues, it’s unlikely that you’re going to ever be successful,” Jassy said on Capital Group’s Power of Advice podcast earlier this year. “You have to be willing to start at the bottom. You have to do whatever people ask you to do, within reason.”

Jassy, who played soccer at Harvard before pivoting into business, has said trial and error helped shape his own career path.

“It’s great to have an idea,” Jassy said. “But it’s very useful to try a lot of different things to figure out what you don’t like and what you do like.”

For Pepi, the lesson appears to have started early: talent may open doors, but—as his father repeatedly reminded him—hard work determines whether they stay open.

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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com