After a meteoric rise in 2025, USA goalkeeper Matt Freese isn’t shy about his ambitions to take another massive leap forwards this year. The New York City FC stopper has set his sights on not only starting for the Stars and Stripes at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ but also winning the tournament in New York New Jersey where he plays his club football.
USA coach Mauricio Pochettino only gave Harvard graduate Freese his senior international debut in June last year. Since then, the 27-year-old has started 13 of USA’s 14 games to put himself firmly in place to be the No1 goalkeeper at this year’s global showpiece ahead of the more experienced Matt Turner.
Since the 2-0 loss to Korea Republic last September, Freese has been an integral part of USA’s run of five matches without suffering a single defeat. It also helped that New York City FC have been improving gradually since Freese’s arrival in 2023, going from missing the MLS Cup playoffs in his first season to advancing to the Eastern Conference final this past year.
Freese met with FIFA at NYCFC’s preseason training camp in California to talk about earning Pochettino’s trust, the excellence of American goalkeepers, and his lofty World Cup dreams.
Matt Freese: To have [Mauricio Pochettino’s] trust in me for a year now, and to be able to play for him, to be able to learn from him, to learn from [USA national team goalkeeping coach] Toni Jimenez has been an incredible opportunity. To have them trust me and turn to me means a lot. It just continues to fuel my hunger to repay that trust and to make him and as many people as possible to be proud.
I’m very excited for the season. Since I got here in 2023, we have been building each year. We missed the play-offs in my first year. That was a tough first year. The year after [in 2024], we were in the top six and made it into the Eastern Conference semi-final. Then last year, it was a top-five finish and then into the Eastern Conference final. We still haven’t achieved anything, but it’s an opportunity now to make it four years of building. Eventually, if we continue building, we will reach the top.
Historically, the goalkeeper position has been a strong position for the US. I think a part of that is the multi-sport culture in the US. Being a goalkeeper in football is obviously unlike playing any of the the rest of the positions. As a goalkeeper, you have to rely so much on general athleticism, hand-eye coordination, timing, jumping speed, and mental ability to make decisions under pressure. You can learn a lot of things by playing goalkeeper, but skills you learn by playing other sports can definitely translate over as well. I think having a diverse athletic background [helps American goalkeepers].
If you look at Tim Howard, he also played multiple sports. I was also fortunate to have just loved athletics since I was young. I loved sports growing up. I played pretty much everything. And then, when I finally decided to put it all into soccer, there were a lot of things that translated.
It would be an honour to start for the United States in the World Cup, and hopefully, achieve something great there. It’s an incredible opportunity for me. It’d be really special to represent MLS and New York City FC while I’m there, but for now, I’m more focused on the day-to-day. I’m just trying to maximize my chances of achieving that dream.
There’s an idea that the World Cup being held in the summer could be beneficial to MLS players since we’ll be in mid-season form. It doesn’t really matter, to be honest. There’s no advantage or disadvantage, because in that moment, there’s a lot of emotion, a lot of adrenaline. It doesn’t matter if you’ve just played for ten years in a row without a break. You’ll still be ready to go.
I want to win. In MLS, I want to win a trophy, Supporters’ Shield or the MLS Cup. I also want to go to the World Cup. My goal is to be the starter for the US and help us win the World Cup. That’s what I want to do. When the team has success, the individual accolades will follow. So, I’m much more just focused on New York City FC and the national team right now. I want to put both of them in the best position possible.
