USMNT World Cup Roster Guide: Who is Matt Turner?

Player: Matt Turner
Age: 28
Birthplace: Park Ridge, NJ
Club: Arsenal
Position: Goalkeeper
Team role: Starter
USMNT caps: 20

Turner didn’t even begin to take soccer seriously until, at age 15 in the summer of 2010, he caught World Cup fever watching Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard lead the U.S. into the knockout stage.

He wasn’t picked in the 2016 MLS draft after playing four years college soccer for mid-major Fairfield University, but the New England Revolution signed him after he impressed while on trail. It still took Turner three years to become the Revs’ No. 1. But when he got the job he didn’t let go, parlaying his elite shot-stopping into his first USMNT cap in January 2021. The U.S. won the Gold Cup that summer with Turner in net, and with No. 1 Zack Steffen unavailable he was in goal when World Cup qualifying began later in the year. That caught the attention of English Premier League power Arsenal, which signed the 2021 MLS goalkeeper of the year.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.