For the first time in the three-decade history of Major League Soccer, the projected starting goalkeeper for the U.S. men’s national team at the World Cup is likely to come from the domestic competition, which begins its 2026 campaign on Saturday.
Consider this: every American No. 1 at the World Cup since MLS launched in 1996 — from Kasey Keller (1998), Brad Friedel (2002), Keller again (2006), Tim Howard (2010 and 2014), to Matt Turner (2022) — was playing club football abroad, most often in the Premier League.
That was Turner’s situation four years ago after his move from the New England Revolution to Arsenal, shortly before he helped the U.S. reach the round of 16 with group-stage clean sheets against England and Iran. However, he later lost the top spot to Matt Freese of New York City FC midway through 2025. Turner, who totaled only 31 appearances for Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, and Crystal Palace over three seasons in England, returned to the Revolution last summer to strengthen his case for a second straight World Cup start.
As a result, MLS will serve as the proving ground for Turner and his Eastern Conference rival Freese as they attempt to impress U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who will monitor them closely. He will also rely heavily on reports from his longtime goalkeeping coach Toni Jiménez.
“Last season, we introduced a system of attending MLS matches live for the goalkeepers on our shortlist, visiting their training facilities, and working with their coaching staffs, including head coaches and goalkeeper coaches,” Jiménez said earlier this week. “We plan to follow a similar approach again this season.”
Jiménez’s workload will be heavy. His shortlist also features several other U.S.-based keepers, making it quite possible — and perhaps even probable — that all three goalkeepers selected for Pochettino’s final 26-man World Cup squad in May will come from MLS.
Presumed third-choice option Patrick Schulte of the Columbus Crew has received consistent call-ups since Pochettino replaced Gregg Berhalter in September 2024. Schulte, a 2023 MLS Cup champion who started for the U.S. Olympic side at the 2024 Paris Games, has earned three senior caps.
Roman Celentano of FC Cincinnati was included in two of Pochettino’s final three camps of 2025. Chris Brady from the Chicago Fire attended one camp last fall and served as third choice behind Freese and Turner during the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup. Brady and Celentano remain uncapped, as does Jonathan Klinsmann, the only candidate playing regularly in Europe this season. Klinsmann, the son of former U.S. coach Jürgen Klinsmann, starts for Cesena in Italy’s second division.
So while U.S. assistants Jesus Perez and Miguel D’Agostino have spent the winter traveling across Europe to monitor key outfield players such as Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie, much of Jiménez’s attention has stayed focused at home.
“There is constant communication between myself and their goalkeeper coaches, as well as with the players directly,” Jiménez said, referencing his past work with Hugo Lloris at Tottenham and Keylor Navas at PSG. “All of these updates and reports are shared with the rest of the national team coaching staff.”
