Matt Freese Earns Start in FIFA World Cup 2026 Opener Against Paraguay | OneFootball

LOS ANGELES – One year and five days removed from his U.S. Men’s National Team debut, New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese earned the starting nod in the United States’ opening FIFA World Cup 2026 contest against Paraguay.

In addition to making his FIFA World Cup debut, Freese becomes the ninth different goalkeeper to appear for the USMNT in a World Cup match.

“I dream of this opportunity, you work for this opportunity, but you never know what’s going to come,” Freese said at training earlier this week. “I learned probably nine years ago that the ones who work hard without the promise of reward are the ones who usually succeed.”

The 27-year-old has enjoyed a swift ascent in the National Team during head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure. Freese made his USMNT debut in an international friendly against Türkiye in Columbus, Ohio on June 7, 2025, going on to record his first clean sheet a week later in the United States’ opening fixture of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup against Trinidad and Tobago in San Jose, Calif. The goalkeeper started all six matches during last year’s Gold Cup run, helping the USMNT advance to the Final, a match in which he had six saves against Mexico.

More recently, Freese started eight of the United States’ 10 pre-World Cup matches, notably helping the Stars and Stripes to a five-match unbeaten run against World Cup-qualified opponents to close out 2025. The five-match unbeaten run—which featured a victory against Paraguay just outside of Freese’s hometown in Chester, Pa.—marked the first time since 2013 that the USMNT had gone unbeaten against FIFA top-40 opponents in five consecutive matches.

“It means so much to be able to be in a position to inspire the next generation, and there's a compounding effect to it,” Freese added. “We were inspired by the previous generation. Hopefully, we inspire the next generation. The more we inspire them, the better the following generation will be. We’re working as hard as we can, we’re as focused as we can be to continue to leave the next generation inspired.”