Matt Freese got the announcement he was desperately waiting for when he least expected it.
As Freese explained, it was May 22, and he was at a cafe in Nashville — the day before New York City FC faced Nashville SC. After ordering, Freese glanced at his phone and saw a WhatsApp notification from United States men's national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Overcome with excitement, Freese couldn't look at the message just yet — he had to pay for his coffee first. Once he got his drink, Freese sat down and watched a 16-second video confirming that he and 25 other players had made the squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
"It was a pretty memorable message to get and a very memorable group chat to be a part of," he said. "To be together in one group is a special feeling, and to be a part of this team is something you dream about."
Matthew Mangam
A year in the making
It's been less than one year since Freese made his debut for the USMNT: a 2-1 loss to Türkiye on June 7, 2025. It was a moment Freese called a 'huge honor,' but knew there was more work to be done to get to a World Cup.
"I'm not great at taking in the moments and being happy and thinking 'what a moment' because I'm just so dead-set on winning and doing my job," he said. "Eventually, I'll be happy when I'm 40 years old and retired and reflect and realize how fortunate I was, but before that happens, I'm so much more focused on doing my job and winning the game than enjoying it."
Freese went on to start 14 of the last 16 matches for the United States and has a real possibility of being the country's starting goalkeeper at a World Cup — a dream that he's had his entire life.
"It's difficult for me to answer when that dream started because I don't know a time where that dream wasn't the dream," he said. "I think it's every kid's dream, but I think for me it was different; it was more of an ambition and less of a dream. It was something I wanted to accomplish, and I was going to work to accomplish."
In just those 14 games, Freese has proven to Pochettino that he can be counted on. The 27-year-old has complied a 8W-2D-4L record with three clean sheets, headlined by his three penalty kick stops against Costa Rica in the Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinals — the moment he became a national hero.
"I think that quality creates consistency because I think no moment is too big for you, and I think decreasing the emotions that come along with big moments, small moments, low moments, or high moments stabilizes that emotion, leading to consistency," he said. "If I can do something out on the field in training, there's no reason I can't do that even during a massive moment in front of 100 million people watching on TV."
Andrew Leigh
Learning from Tim Howard
As Freese burst onto the scene, many big names took notice of his elite shot-stopping, including former USMNT star Tim Howard, who thinks Freese will be the starter this summer, saying, "He doesn't seem to get rattled in the big moments."
Those words of praise definitely meant a lot to Freese, who models his game after Howard and was largely inspired by his 16-save performance against Belgium at the 2014 World Cup.
"Goalkeeping has historically been such a strong position for the US, so to be one of those goalkeepers is so amazing, so special," Freese said. "I constantly think about this, as I don't want to be good; I want to be one of the greats, and I think Tim Howard was one of the greats. I want to put my name right next to his."
Freese has already played in several big games throughout his career — like a Concacaf Gold Cup final and several MLS Cup Playoff games — but nothing will compare to starting in a World Cup for the United States on home soil.
It would be a full circle moment for the Wayne, Pennsylvania native, who joined NYCFC in 2023 as a backup goalkeeper and was largely unknown, but quickly made a name for himself.
"Being on that field for that first game or any game in the World Cup is a little bit indescribable," he said. "It's hard to put into words how much that would feel like faith with all the things that led me there. But I know in that moment I'm not going to think about it, and I'm not going to worry about it. I'm not going to think about the emotion; I'm going to be focused on winning."
