Former Harvard goalkeeper Matt Freese ’22 will join the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the US Soccer Federation announced Tuesday.
Freese will be the first Harvard male to represent his nation on soccer’s biggest stage later this summer. He follows women’s soccer alum Josefine Hasbo ’25 — the first Crimson athlete to play for a World Cup squad — who competed in four matches for the Danish national team at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The New York City FC keeper joins New England Revolution’s Matt Turner and Chicago Fire’s Chris Brady as the three goalkeepers selected for the U.S. squad. Half of the roster is making its first World Cup appearance, but the lineup also features seasoned internationals such as A.C. Milan’s Christian Pulisic, Juventus’s Weston McKennie, and AFC Bournemouth’s Tyler Adams.
Once a backup for Turner on the national team, Freese established himself as a consistent contender for the starting spot in net after a heroic performance in the 2025 Gold Cup, where he saved half of the shots in the penalty shootout to send the United States through to the semi-finals.
The full 26-person roster, spearheaded by U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino — a renowned club coach who is managing his first World Cup team — was released at a packed fan celebration at Pier 17 in Manhattan, N.Y., on Tuesday afternoon.
This iteration marks the first World Cup with an expanded competitor pool of 48 nations competing across 16 host cities.
For the first time since 1994, the United States will play in a World Cup on home soil; fellow co-hosts Canada and Mexico will also play all of their group-stage matches on their respective turf.
The United States’ best performance in the World Cup came during the inaugural edition in 1930, when the team finished third. Since then, the team has only reached the quarterfinals once — in 2002, beating Mexico in the first round of the knockout stage before falling to the eventual runner-up, Germany — and the Round of 16 four times: in 1994, 2010, 2014, and 2022.
Notably, the USMNT missed out on the 2018 World Cup after failing to advance past the qualification stage due to a shocking 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago.
During Freese’s tenure for the Crimson, he logged 1,147 minutes across 13 matches as Harvard’s starting goalie during his sophomore year. He recorded 70 saves, with a save percentage of roughly 78 percent — despite the Crimson’s 3-13 record that year.
He decided to forego his remaining NCAA eligibility after his sophomore season, signing a homegrown contract with Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union, where he primarily played for the Union’s second team and only made 13 first-team appearances in four seasons.
Now eight seasons into his MLS career, the experienced shot-stopper has been a consistent starter for NYCFC since 2024, anchoring two trips to the playoffs and a conference final appearance last year.
Freese will have a chance to establish himself in a World Cup role during two upcoming friendly matches: Senegal on May 31 and Germany on June 6.
The USMNT’s first match will be in Inglewood, Calif., where the team will begin its World Cup journey against Paraguay on June 12. After a trip up the West Coast to Seattle, Wash., for a match against Australia, the team will return to Southern California and close its group stage with a game against Turkey.
—Staff writer Uy B. Pham can be reached at or on Signal at ubp.88. Follow him on X @uybpham.
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