Matt Turner penalty record: USMNT goalkeeper saves USA in Gold Cup quarterfinals against Canada

Matt Turner has blossomed as the first-choice goalkeeper for the United States national team, and one of his many strong attributes is his penalty record.

Across his professional career for club and country, Turner has stopped nearly half the penalties he's faced during matches, and then stood tall against Canada in his first professional shootout.

Generally, penalties are scored at around an 80 percent clip at the professional level, but Turner has been far better than that as a goalkeeper for both his various club teams (Richmond Kickers, New England Revolution, and Arsenal) as well as the U.S. national team.

The Sporting News has the breakdown of his record against penalties through his professional career.

MORE: Recap the wild penalty shootout victory over Canada in the 2023 Gold Cup

HIM! @headdturnerr IS HIM!

🎥 » @FOXSoccerpic.twitter.com/74ZN47Adhm

— U.S. Men's National Soccer Team (@USMNT) July 10, 2023

Matt Turner saves two penalties in Gold Cup shootout vs Canada

In the first penalty shootout of his professional career for club or country, Matt Turner and the U.S. triumphed over Canada in the quarterfinals of the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup by a 3-2 score.

After a 2-2 draw, the U.S. would advance largely thanks to Turner's heroics, as he saved two penalties in the shootout and saw Canada miss another, helping the U.S. to move on to the semifinals.

With the effort, Turner became the first USMNT goalkeeper to save multiple efforts in a penalty shootout since Kasey Keller also stopped a pair against Canada in the 2002 Gold Cup semifinals.

Turner first stopped Canada's opening spot-kick from Steven Vitoria, who had beaten him earlier in the match by going down the middle, but this time, with Vitoria trying it again, Turner stood his ground to make the save.

CAN: ❌
USA: pic.twitter.com/er3dUFd4VO

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 10, 2023

Then, he also kept out Canada's second effort from Liam Fraser, who attempted to fire his penalty to Turner's left, but the U.S. goalkeeper dove to keep it out. Turner could be seen cheating slightly that way, but Fraser wasn't looking at the goalkeeper, instead focused entirely on the ball.

CAN: ❌ ❌
USA: ❌ pic.twitter.com/MEtJHJUpaw

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 10, 2023

Matt Turner's record saving penalties in career

Not including penalty shootouts, Matt Turner has saved 11 of the 25 penalties he has faced for club and country across his professional career, which amounts to a spectacular 44 percent save rate.

Penalties saved or missed against Matt Turner: 11

The first penalty he saved in his professional career came back in 2016 when a 22-year-old Turner stopped an effort from Christian Volesky for the Richmond Kickers in the USL Championship. His first save at the international level came in the 7-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago in 2021, and he would then get his first competitive international save against Qatar in the 2021 Gold Cup.

Of Turner's 11 penalty saves, seven of them came in a draw or one-goal win, meaning that 64 percent of his stops have earned a result for his team.

The following table shows all penalties saved by Matt Turner during match play, which does not include penalty shootouts.

Penalties scored against Matt Turner: 14

Prior to Steven Vitoria's strike in the Gold Cup, which helped Canada earn a 2-2 draw that would send the game to a shootout, the last player to score a penalty against Matt Turner was Gareth Bale of Wales, who picked up a late goal in the 2022 World Cup to snatch a draw.

Turner has faced just one penalty as an Arsenal goalkeeper, conceding the spot-kick but still managing to pick up a win against FC Zurich in the 2022/23 Europa League group stage.