The USMNT has a goalkeeper problem. Diego Kochen gives hope.

Opinion · By Gavin Shippen

Matt Turner’s limitations, Matt Freese’s costly mistakes and Chris Brady’s unsettled moment leave the U.S. searching for security. Diego Kochen deserves a serious chance.

Every time the United States seems ready to settle its goalkeeper debate, somebody gives us a reason to reopen it.

Matt Turner never became the complete goalkeeper this team needed. Matt Freese offers more with the ball at his feet, in my view, but his biggest mistakes have arrived on stages where we needed reassurance. Chris Brady’s latest opportunity ended with another ugly scramble in front of the American goal.

As the U.S. prepares to face Mexico on Saturday, Oct. 3, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, I want more than another argument about whose mistake was worse. I want a goalkeeper we can trust when an opponent presses.

And I want Diego Kochen to get a serious chance.

Turner’s story has always been easy to root for. U.S. Soccer says he began playing soccer at 14. New England’s account adds an important detail: he committed to the sport year-round at 16, inspired by the 2010 World Cup.

That is a late start. It also makes what he achieved remarkable. He became a World Cup starter and helped the U.S. win the 2021 Gold Cup, earning the tournament’s best-goalkeeper award. Calling that career a failure would erase too much.

But the next step never really convinced me. Turner’s distribution has remained a weakness in my assessment, and at international level, the goalkeeper has to survive pressure with the ball as well as stop shots. The late-bloomer story cannot answer those questions forever.

Starting late does not prove why a player has a particular weakness. The issue now is whether Turner offers the complete game the U.S. needs. I don’t think he does.

Freese has looked like a better fit to me when the Americans want to play out from the back. That makes his errors especially frustrating.

Against Haiti in the 2025 Gold Cup group stage, he mishit a pass intended for John Tolkin. Louicius Don Deedson intercepted and scored. The U.S. recovered to win 2–1.

That mistake did not knock the Americans out. A week later, Freese saved three penalties in the quarterfinal shootout against Costa Rica. He helped keep that tournament run alive, and any honest assessment has to give him credit for it.

Then came Belgium at the 2026 World Cup.

With the U.S. trailing 2–1 in the Round of 16, Freese controlled a long ball outside his penalty area but failed to clear before Charles De Ketelaere applied pressure. The ball reached Hans Vanaken, who scored into an empty net in the 57th minute. Belgium eventually won 4–1.

For me, that was a crushing moment in a match the U.S. was still chasing. Saying Freese alone cost the country the World Cup would be too easy. Belgium had already scored twice, and the problems extended well beyond the goalkeeper.

Still, two successive summers brought two glaring reminders that looking comfortable in possession and making the right decision under pressure are different things.

Brady’s chance against Chile on Sept. 29 did little to calm the conversation.

He made five first-half saves, according to U.S. Soccer. That matters. So does the equalizer just before halftime, when Brady and the defense failed to clear a bouncing ball after a corner and Diego Ulloa volleyed it home.

The six-yard box had the feel of a volleyball rally. We needed someone to end it.

Brady deserves more opportunities to show what he can do. One chaotic sequence should not define a young goalkeeper. It also should not be brushed aside because the U.S. eventually won 4–2.

Which brings me to Kochen.

His ability with his feet is what excites me. Of the options in this conversation, he is the one who makes me most optimistic about where American goalkeeping could go. I think he has the potential to be the next big thing for the U.S.

The club details matter, though. Kochen is 20 and is on loan from Barcelona to Denmark’s Lyngby Boldklub through June 30, 2027, with an option to buy. Barcelona says he made 20 appearances for Barça Atlètic last season. His development is still very much underway.

He made his senior U.S. debut in the second half against Peru on Sept. 26. That is a beginning, and a reason to give him a longer look.

A Barcelona background does not win the U.S. job. Kochen still has to command his area, handle pressure and recover when his own inevitable mistakes arrive. He should face the same scrutiny as everyone else.

But this is the moment to find out.

The next cycle has begun. I want the competition genuinely open, with enough meaningful minutes to judge Kochen fairly.

We have spent plenty of time explaining the shortcomings of the goalkeepers we know. Kochen gives me a reason to believe the answer might still be coming.