(Photo credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images)

IRVINE, Calif. -- Regardless if he starts the United States men's national team's tournament-opening match Friday vs. Paraguay, goalkeeper Matt Turner embodies the importance of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to the host nation.

Turner was born on June 24, 1994, amid the last World Cup held in the United States and days between matches that exemplify the hope and frustration that have long loomed over the USMNT. On June 22 that summer -- at Rose Bowl Stadium, not from this Friday's opener at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. -- the American squad stunned tournament favorite Colombia, 2-1.

Four days later, USMNT dropped a 1-0 decision to Romania.

Such it has been every four years for the Americans, oscillating between optimism and futility. Turner's own place within the national team is similar.

In 2022, the longtime netminder for Major League Soccer's New England Revolution became the first American goalkeeper with two clean sheets in the same World Cup since 1930.

But in 2025, U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino moved Matt Freese into goal and Turner's international appearances have been limited. With training ahead of the group stage doubling as competition, however, Turner and Freese are each vying to be in net for the World Cup.

'There's a healthy, mutual respect there,' Turner said of the dynamic between Freese and himself. 'And whatever the coach ultimately decides, we owe it to each other to respect that decision and support each other all the way till the end.'

'Freese has popped up over the last year and a half, and it's been really pleasing to watch,' said midfielder Cristian Roldan. 'But (Turner) has been incredibly supportive of Matt Freese and the team, putting the team first.'

Still, the opportunities for Turner to represent his nation beyond this summer's tournament -- and particularly on the premier stage of the World Cup -- are finite. He turns 32 a day before the U.S. concludes its group-stage competition on June 25 against Turkey, while fellow keepers Freese and Chris Brady are 27 and 22, respectively.

That 'the door is always cracked' for Turner, as he put it, is nevertheless a testament to how far the New Jersey native has come in his career to be in this position.

A product of small Jesuit school Fairfield University, Turner said he watched World Cups as recently as the 2014 edition in Brazil without even envisioning that he might one day don the Stars and Stripes.

'I wasn't dreaming (of playing in a World Cup) when I was (college) age,' Turner said. '(What) fueled me was always my love and passion for the game, and my innate ability to believe in myself when others didn't.'

Belief when others lack it just might the best descriptor of the USMNT's ambitions as a team. The Americans have not advanced to a Cup quarterfinal since 2002, when it did so for the first and only time in the last nine tournaments.

Home Sweet Home

Playing the Cup on home soil for the first time in 32 years comes with added pressure, Roldan conceded, but he added that the expectations for the U.S. to have a strong showing at home 'is translating into positive energy on the field.'

For Roldan, Friday's match comes with home-field advantage in a most literal sense. He is a native of Artesia, Calif., a community tucked in southern Los Angeles County almost equidistant from SoFi Stadium and U.S. training grounds at Irvine's Great Park.

'Being able to stay in my backyard is special to me,' Roldan said. 'When you're growing up thinking about (the future) you dream about moments like this. I'm soaking it all in.'

Meanwhile, between the two group-stage matches in SoFi Stadium against Paraguay and Turkey, Roldan enjoys another homecoming for the June 19 match vs. Australia. The Americans face the Aussies at Lumen Field in Seattle, Roldan's home city for the last 13 years.

Roldan played collegiately at the University of Washington and has been with the Seattle Sounders since 2015.

'(I made) really good memories in these two cities,' Roldan said.

And for the next three weeks, he can make even more great memories in Los Angeles and Seattle alike.

--Kyle Kensing, Field Level Media