42 Facts About Mathew Ryan

Mathew David Ryan was born on 8 April 1992 and is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Lens and captains the Australia national team.

Mathew Ryan made his senior debut for Blacktown before moving to the Mariners' senior squad in 2010.

In 2013, Mathew Ryan moved to Club Brugge, where he played for two years before joining Valencia.

Mathew Ryan made his senior international debut in 2012, and has since established himself as Australia's first-choice goalkeeper, effectively succeeding his childhood idol Mark Schwarzer.

Mathew Ryan played at the FIFA World Cup in 2014,2018, and 2022, as well as the AFC Asian Cup in 2015,2019 and 2023, winning the Best Goalkeeper award at the 2015 tournament which his country won on home soil.

Mathew David Ryan was born on 8 April 1992 in Plumpton, New South Wales and attended Westfields Sports High School.

Mathew Ryan took up football at the age of four and played youth football for Blacktown City and Central Coast Mariners before making his senior debut with Blacktown City.

The Mariners season ended with a penalty shootout loss to Brisbane Roar in the 2011 A-League Grand Final Mathew Ryan was awarded the Joe Marston Medal for man of the match in that game.

In October 2011, Mathew Ryan was named 2011 Male U20 Player of the Year at the FFA Australian Football Awards.

However, they were eliminated in the Preliminary Final against Perth Glory on penalties, despite Mathew Ryan scoring his penalty in the shootout.

Mathew Ryan was awarded the Mariners Medal for club player of the season, and named in the PFA's A-League Team of the Season.

Mathew Ryan was awarded the Harry Kewell Medal for the outstanding Australian under-23-year-old player in June 2012.

Coach Graham Arnold revealed after the game that Mathew Ryan had been practising penalty-taking in the lead-up to that match following a number of missed penalties from other players in the side.

The Mariners were victorious in the 2013 A-League Grand Final over the Wanderers, their first win in their four A-League Grand Finals played, with Mathew Ryan dedicating the win to the three previous Mariners teams to have lost at that stage.

On 26 November 2014, it was announced that Mathew Ryan had agreed to terms with Club Brugge, to extend his contract until 2018.

On 21 July 2015, Mathew Ryan signed a six-year deal with La Liga side Valencia CF.

Mathew Ryan was expected to assume the starting goalkeeper role, at least in the medium term, with regular starter Diego Alves out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Mathew Ryan made his unofficial debut in a friendly against PSV Eindhoven on 25 July 2015.

On 22 August 2015, Mathew Ryan made his La Liga debut in Valencia's opening game of the season, keeping a clean sheet in a scoreless draw with Rayo Vallecano.

Mathew Ryan continued to be rotated with Jaume and the returning Alves for the remainder of the season, eventually making 21 appearances for Valencia in all competitions.

However, Alves stayed at Valencia and Mathew Ryan subsequently lost his starting position.

On 30 January 2017, Mathew Ryan returned to Belgium after he was loaned to Racing Genk.

Mathew Ryan stated in April 2017 that he was not planning to stay in Belgium after the season and would instead return to Valencia.

Mathew Ryan cited the prospect of playing in the Premier League as a main reason for the transfer.

Mathew Ryan was in goal for Brighton's first ever Premier League win which came at home against West Brom on 9 September 2017.

Mathew Ryan was given the number 33 jersey, formerly worn by Matt Macey and Petr Cech at the club.

Mathew Ryan played a role in Arsenal's equaliser after going up for a corner.

Mathew Ryan joined La Liga side Real Sociedad on undisclosed terms on 12 July 2021.

On 9 August 2022, Mathew Ryan joined Superliga side FC Copenhagen on a two-year contract.

Mathew Ryan was signed to serve as an understudy for Mile Svilar.

Mathew Ryan played a full 90 minutes for Lens the following week, keeping a clean sheet in a victory over Angers.

Mathew Ryan was first called up for the Australian under-23 side in November 2011.

Mathew Ryan made his debut for the side in a scoreless draw with Iraq on 22 November 2011.

Mathew Ryan received his first call-up to the Socceroos squad for a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Saudi Arabia in February 2012.

Mathew Ryan was selected in May 2014 in the Australian squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Mathew Ryan played in all three of Australia's games as they were eliminated in the group stage after losses to the Netherlands, Chile and Spain.

Months later, Mathew Ryan was selected for the Australian 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad, to be played in Australia in early 2015.

Mathew Ryan put in a number of strong performances throughout the tournament as Australia conceded just two goals in reaching the Final against South Korea.

Mathew Ryan was named the official Best Goalkeeper for the tournament.

Mathew Ryan captained Australia in each of their four matches at the tournament and kept two clean sheets, a record for Australia at the World Cup.

At the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, Mathew Ryan conceded only one goal in Australia's three group stage games, coming against Odiljon Hamrobekov of Uzbekistan.

Arnold's replacement, Tony Popovic, began to use young goalkeeper Joe Gauci as his first preference over Mathew Ryan, leaving the Socceroos captain on the bench since Popovic's arrival in October 2024.