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Meet Matt Turner, the only Jewish player on Team USA in the World Cup

JL;DR SUMMARY Matt Turner stands out as the sole Jewish player on the U.S. squad for the 2026 World Cup, potentially the only Jewish player in the entire tournament. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityHeritageSoccerWorld CupMatt TurnerGoalkeeperUsa TeamAndres CantorLithuanian Passport2026 World Cup

Places mentioned

New Jersey, United States
"Turner, a New Jersey native, discovered his Jewish heritage by finding his paternal great-grandmothers emigration papers that had allowed her to flee Lithuania during the Holocaust."
United States
"When the U.S. squad suits up Friday night to face off against Paraguay in its opening contest in the 2026 World Cup, one Jewish player will be in the mix."
Mexico
"Goalkeeper Matt Turner is not only the lone Jew on the U.S. team but he could well be the only Jewish player in the entire tournament, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada starting on Thursday."
Canada
"Goalkeeper Matt Turner is not only the lone Jew on the U.S. team but he could well be the only Jewish player in the entire tournament, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada starting on Thursday."
Lithuania
"Turner, a New Jersey native, discovered his Jewish heritage by finding his paternal great-grandmothers emigration papers that had allowed her to flee Lithuania during the Holocaust."
Buenos Aires, Argentina
"Cantor was born in Buenos Aires to a Romania-born mother and a father whose family fled the Nazis in Poland."

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This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 84579
Cairo Source ID 42
Retrieved 2026-06-11 18:00:46 UTC
Curated 2026-06-11 19:00:35 UTC