USMNT next generation ready to host World Cup

IRVINE, Calif. – The last time the U.S. men’s national team played in a summer edition of a World Cup, Matt Turner was preparing to enter his junior year at Fairfield University. 

The New Jersey native, who didn’t start playing soccer until age 14, made 39 appearances as a goalkeeper for the Stags. During his college career, he was featured in SportsCenter’s “Not Top 10” when he punched a ball into his own net during a game. 

Twelve years later, Turner, who is battling Matt Freese for starting goalkeeper, is set to participate in his second consecutive World Cup with the USMNT. More poetically, this time it’s on home soil.

“I wasn’t dreaming like that when I was that age,” Turner said Tuesday, remembering his World Cup ambitions while in college. “The thing that fueled me was always my love and passion for the game and my innate ability to believe in myself when others didn’t.”

Turner is one of three players on the current 2026 USMNT World Cup squad who were over 18 when coach Jürgen Klinsmann’s team traveled to Brazil. This year’s tournament will be the first time the U.S. is playing in a summer edition of the World Cup since that South American edition 12 years ago.

There are reasons to remember that journey. 

Despite playing in a group of European powerhouses such as Germany and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, along with Ghana which beat the U.S. in the previous two World Cups, Klinsmann’s men advanced to the knockout phase as runners-up. In the round of 16, Belgium defeated the U.S. despite goalkeeper Tim Howard making a single-game record 16 saves.

Those memories likely stuck with the majority of the 2026 roster, who were young teenagers at the time. With the USMNT’s opener against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Friday, reality is starting to settle in for these players.

“We’ve been waiting for this time to kind of get here, get settled in and to start the tournament,” said defender Joe Scally, who was 11 during the Brazil World Cup. “Now it’s here, we’re at our home base, at the training ground. It’s definitely brought excitement. We’re all just preparing.”

When the 2014 edition kicked off, current USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino hadn’t even managed his first game with Tottenham Hotspur, a Premier League club with which he spent five and a half seasons. Defender Alex Freeman is the youngest player on this year’s squad; he was just nine years old when Clint Dempsey scored the fastest goal in U.S. Soccer’s World Cup history during the opening game against Ghana.

Only Tim Ream played professionally in 2014. The then-26 year old defender made his senior national team debut in late 2010, recording 82 appearances including every minute of the 2022 World Cup. He was not selected for the Brazil edition.

As captain, Ream urged his teammates to embrace the moment as 13 of them will participate in their first World Cup.

“For me, it’s about just opening your eyes and taking everything in,” he said Monday. “This is unique. This is completely different from anything that any of us as players has experienced.” 

When the ball rolls on Friday for Pochettino’s side, all eyes will be on Inglewood, California, and the young core of the USMNT. It’s a full-circle moment for players who once stood in front of the television, dreaming of representing the same national team that created lasting memories in Brazil.

“I’m always trying to learn, I’m always trying to get better,” Turner said. “I’m still that same kid from 12 years ago that was watching the World Cup in 2014 in Brazil and cheering on this national team.

“To be here, to wear the crest, it’s a huge honor.”

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