Matt Turner (soccer)

Early career

Matt Turner grew up in Park Ridge, New Jersey, and went to Saint Joseph Regional High School. He didn't start playing soccer until he was 14, originally using it just to keep fit for basketball and baseball. He ended up in goal because the only other goalkeeper on his freshman team got hurt during tryouts. In college, he played all four years at Fairfield University, making 39 appearances and recording 21 shutouts. As a senior, he earned a spot on the All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference second team. One memorable moment came in 2013 when ESPN SportsCenter's "Not Top 10" showed him scoring an own goal after the ball bounced high off the crossbar. He also played for Jersey Express in the Premier Development League, helping the team reach the PDL national semifinals in 2014.

Club career

After going undrafted in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft, Turner signed with New England Revolution on March 3, 2016, following a successful preseason trial. He was loaned to United Soccer League club Richmond Kickers on April 29, making his professional debut a day later in a 1–0 win over Toronto FC II; across two loan stints he recorded seven shutouts in 27 starts. He became the Revolution's starting goalkeeper in 2018, making his MLS debut on March 3 in a 2–0 loss to Philadelphia Union.

On March 31, he recorded his first MLS clean sheet in a 2–0 win at Houston Dynamo FC, the Revolution's first clean sheet since August 24, 2016. After a difficult start to 2019 dropped him to third string, he regained the starting role, starting 20 matches with five clean sheets and leading the team to its first playoff match since 2015. He finished as an MLS Goalkeeper of the Year finalist, ranking fifth in voting. In 2022 he joined Arsenal, then moved to Nottingham Forest the following year. In his second season, he went on loan to Crystal Palace, winning the FA Cup in 2025.

International career

Turner made his international debut on January 31, 2021, starting in a 7–0 friendly win against Trinidad and Tobago, recording a clean sheet and saving a penalty from Alvin Jones. He started all six games in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, recording five clean sheets including a 1–0 win over Mexico in the final, earning Best Goalkeeper of the tournament. At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he was the primary goalkeeper, playing all 360 minutes and keeping two clean sheets, the first U.S. goalkeeper to do so in one World Cup since 1930.

In the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals, he started both games, keeping clean sheets against Mexico and Canada in 3–0 and 2–0 wins, winning the competition and being named best goalkeeper and to the CNL Finals Best XI. At the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup, he saved a penalty from Leon Bailey in the group stage and saved two penalties in a shootout against Canada in the quarterfinal, earning man of the match. On June 12, 2024, he made 11 saves in a 1–1 friendly draw against Brazil, the most for a U.S. goalkeeper since Tim Howard's 15 in 2014. He was selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup squad and featured in a 3–2 group stage loss to Turkey.

Personal life

Turner is Jewish. In 2020, he and his father acquired Lithuanian passports; his paternal great-grandmother, a Jewish emigrant from Lithuania, fled World War II ethnic persecution. His father’s Jewish family changed their surname from “Turnovski” to “Turner” at Ellis Island, while his mother’s side is Catholic. He wed ex-NFL cheerleader Ashley Herron in 2022; they have a son (2022) and a daughter (2023). In 2018, he and Revolution teammate Andrew Farrell reenacted scenes from the film ELF in an online series. A high school baseball player, Turner threw a ceremonial first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game on August 12, 2021.