Back With New England, USMNT GK Turner Is Ready To Turn Heads Again

It's a lot closer than you think.

The kickoff of the World Cup might be 10 months away, but August could wind up turning into a vital month for the U.S. men's national team.

Yes, there are no international friendlies scheduled until the international friendly against the Korea Republic at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 6.

But there will be important news transpiring off the field:

As where various key players will be competing as they begin their tune-up and find their form for the 2026 World Cup.

Over the weekend, it was reported that forward Tim Weah will be loaned by Juventus, where he wasn't getting much playing time, to Olympique Marseille in France. As it turns out, it is the same French Ligue 1 team that his father, the great George Weah, starred for, from 1992-95.

On Friday, the New England Revolution announced that it had signed acquired goalkeeper Matt Turner for the rest of his Major League Soccer season and through June 30, 2026, with the Revs having option to buy his contract.

No doubt he needs to play regularly if the 25-year-old native wants to be the U.S.'s goalkeeper for the second consecutive World Cup.

A mercurial rise

After signing with the club as an undrafted free agent out of Fairfield University in 2016, Turner played the next seven seasons with the Revs. During that span, the 6-foot-3, 180-lb. keeper earned 2021 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and MLS Best XI honors, secured the MLS All-Star Game MVP Award, and helped lead New England to its first Supporters’ Shield title.

Since venturing over to England to perform for Arsenal in 2022, Turner's playing time has been limited to a paltry 17 league matches. He bounced around to Nottingham Forest and then to Crystal Palace, making a handful of appearances, usually in cup competitions. He thought he finally found a team that he could call home when transferred to Lyon in France for $8 million. However, Lyon fell into financial trouble and the French Ligue 1 club and couldn't add Turner to its roster. So, he returned to New England.

"My European adventure, it didn’t go perfectly to plan but I did learn a lot along the way," he said during a Monday press conference.

"So, I had some misfortunes. I had some opportunities that I didn’t make the most of as well. It just didn’t go perfectly to plan. However,
like I said, I started my beautiful family over there, I have zero regrets about my time in England and I really loved it. I would never shut the door on a return either."

Well, let's worry about the next year or so, please.

Lyon not in the cards

After thinking he finally found a home in Lyon, came the bad news that he could not play for the French side.

“It was a trying time, and it was difficult to be in limbo for a while," Turner said. "And thank you so much to my parents, and my wife’s parents who are here today, because without them it would have been really difficult for our family. I mean, no one feels bad for a soccer player, right, because we make millions of dollars and it’s all great and well and good, and your problems are insignificant."

Turner said he was more concerned about his family, with finding the right schools for his two children and making sure his family had the proper health care insurance, regardless where they were.

"Now, I turn to an extended family here in New England to take me in with open arms, and let me just focus on my work, and getting ready to
achieve my ultimate goal, which we all know is to play in the 2026 World Cup here in the states,” he said.

Not playing regularly wasn't the best way to prepare to play internationally, and especially for the USMNT. Unlike other positions on the soccer pitch, you can only use one goalie at a time.

All the training sessions in the world can't make anyone into a world class goalkeeper. Games and vital decision-making under pressure when the game is on the line does.

Playing for his country, not for his club

Turner backstopped the USMNT for four games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and performed well. When he returned to Arsenal, the only action he saw was getting up and down from the bench.

Observers, media and soccer aficionados feared he was going to lose that sharpness sooner or later.

It came crashing down on him when Turner wasn't sharp enough to make a save against on what turned into the winning goal for Panama in a 2-1 win over the USA in the Concacaf Nations League as the three-time defending champions USA hit another devastating stumbling block as it continued to prepare itself for the World Cup.

At the time, former USMNT goalkeeper and National Soccer Hall of Famer Tony Meola talked about the little nuances during the scoring sequence that was replayed for the audience. Cecilio Waterman, some 16 yards out on the right side of the penalty area, deposited the ball into the lower left corner just past the outstretched right hand of Turner. Meola felt that Turner should have taken another step from the goal to cut down the angle.

"I look at the angle that Matt Turner took," he said on the Paramount+ postgame show. "I looked at the distance of the shot, where that shot was taken from. Okay, it was a little bit of pace. There’s no doubt about that. I don’t want to take anything away from the goal scorer, but in this moment … Matt Turner is a little bit tucked in near that in that near post. I had a perfect angle from my vantage point here. Just a little bit of a hop, just before he takes that. So, his feet aren’t planted. He doesn’t have some explosion to his right.

"At the end of the day, in a moment like this, and I’m not I’m not blaming Matt Turner, but those are moments where you have to find a way. Just like a forward in the end, like [Patrick] Agyemang has to find a way to put the ball in the back of the net. Josh Sargent has to find a way. A goalkeeper on the other end of the field has to find a way to make a save."

Sharpness matters, especially for a goalie.

A wake-up call

Turner received the ultimate slap in the face from USMNT Mauricio Pochettino, who anointed New York City FC keeper Matt Freese as the team's No. 1 for the Concacaf Gold Cup in June and July.

Looking back at that time, Turner saw that as a wake-up call. Freese played in all six games as the Americans lost to Mexico in the final.

Turner hoped that history will repeat itself in time for the next World Cup. He is expected to get plenty of games with the Revolution, where he will replace regular keeper, Slovenian native Aljaz Ivacic.

When asked if was going to make his MLS season debut against D.C. United on Saturday, Turner replied: “I’ll let the coach [Caleb Porter] make the decision at the end of the day. But, I’m eager to integrate myself with the squad, show my qualities to everybody, and earn my place on the field.”

A game-changer

Revolution sporting director Curt Onalfo had no doubt that Turner will make an impact immediately for a 6-11-7 team with 25 points that is mired in 11th place in the MLS Eastern Conference, 10 points out of ninth place and the final MLS Cup Playoffs wildcard berth.

"Matt is a game-changer," he said. "He’s one of these guys that can turn a shot that should be a goal into a save."

Turner and Weah weren't the only USMNT players who were in limbo this summer. Several of their teammates need to find new homes as the start of the various European seasons is right around the corner, later this month.

The list includes midfielder-forward Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), whose potential transfer to Parma (Italy) came apart last week because his Bundesliga side felt the offer wasn't big enough, and forward Josh Sargent (Norwich City), who nixed a move from the English Championship to Wolfsburg because he didn't want to move to Germany, even though it would be high level of competition.

If their teams or agents don't get things sorted out soon, it could be a long, frustrating season for those two players with the World Cup looming closer than you think.

Michael Lewis can be followed on X at Soccerwriter and on BlueSky at Soccerwriter.