We’re now just 74 days from Canada’s World Cup opener and some final squad and starting XI decisions are being made for Jesse Marsch.
One of Marsch’s goals as Canada head coach after his team’s thrilling rise through Copa America was to better understand and assess the depth of his group. Marsch knows he can count on Jonathan David, Stephen Eustaquio, Tajon Buchanan, Moise Bombito and of course — providing full fitness — Alphonso Davies at the World Cup. He’s still learning about who else can be trusted.
You can construe Canada’s 2-2 friendly draw against Iceland on Saturday as a loss given how easily a defensively resolute team gave up two goals. It was the first time in Marsch’s nearly two years as Canada coach they gave up two goals in the first half.
You can consider it just as much a win given that Canada pushed back to dominate the second half, leveled the score and did so with nowhere close to their starting XI in the World Cup.
But what isn’t up for debate is how revealing Canada’s draw against Iceland was: multiple players made the kind of errors that could sink Canada at the World Cup, making their place in the final squad up for debate. Just as many players rose up Marsch’s squad power rankings with their performances.
And so it’s getting late real early in Canada.
“I think the players understand that every moment we’re together right now is an opportunity to make a continued impression — a last impression,” Marsch told reporters. “You’re obviously taking all the information from everything that happens in training and games and then I’m trying to put it together to figure out how to have the best team possible to achieve big goals this summer.”
Marsch will have every right to think that, outside of some glaring errors lately, his team is trending in the right direction. Canada has still only given up three goals in their last seven matches. All three have been the result of individual errors towards the back. Those goals have not been symptomatic of a team being outworked or outclassed.
But errors can be made at the World Cup, too. If individual errors have become Canada’s fatal flaw, Marsch has to ensure he makes decisions in advance to guard against them.
Those decisions will impact how Canada looks at the World Cup.
Center-backs
Kamal Miller was once an important player for Canada. His physicality and attitude helped propel Canada through 2022 World Cup qualifying when the team was defined more by spirit than quality. He’s a natural locker-room voice and well-liked player. And those qualities propelled him to a starting spot.
But this Canada side is much improved heading into the World Cup. And mistakes like the one Miller made that resulted in Iceland’s first goal against them illustrate that difference in quality. Marsch wants his team to always be moving forward.
Miller may have taken too big of a step backwards, possibly off the roster, with a questionable pass that led to Iceland’s first.
“Sticking to our principles and understanding how to not make fatal errors in games is really important,” Marsch said.
Kamal Miller missed an opportunity to push for a World Cup squad place. (Geoff Robins / AFP via Getty Images)
If Marsch is going to bring five center-backs to the World Cup, he needs to know each can defend with pace and defend high up the pitch, which are tenets of the way Canada play. Canada will play two European teams in the World Cup (Switzerland and the winner of Tuesday’s play-off between Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina), both of which will have quality in attack. One mistake close to goal could be the difference between Canada getting out of one of those games with a crucial draw, or not.
And so Miller’s error, and to a lesser degree Joel Waterman’s questionable positioning on Iceland’s second goal, could put their World Cup squad spots in jeopardy. The margins are just that fine for Canada and the pressure to get out of their World Cup group is just that immense.
Canada had four center-back spots locked up: Moise Bombito, Derek Cornelius, Luc de Fougerolles and Alfie Jones. The recency bias is strong here, but after defending that was antithesis to how Marsch wants to play, neither Miller nor Waterman appear to have a real grip on that fifth spot.
Right midfield
All the ways the kids describe dudes applies to Tajon Buchanan right now. He is him. He has aura.
After establishing himself as Canada’s best player at the 2022 World Cup, Buchanan looked well on his way against Iceland to having an encore performance this summer.
Most of his touches on the right side flipped a static game on its head. Buchanan was always dangerous and always attacking the goal. His pace and wherewithal led to the penalty call and Canada’s first goal.
Simple, right? Buchanan is a locked in starter and impact player for Canada? Well, yes, but…
Tajon Buchanan has been compelling in recent Canada games. (Geoff Robins / AFP via Getty Images)
Buchanan has established himself as so potent for Canada that the drop-off without him on the right side is steep. And that’s now a problem Marsch will have to solve. Buchanan will not be available for Canada against Tunisia because of his late red card against Iceland.
He probably shouldn’t have been given a red card — it’s a quick burst of emotion and hardly a malicious shoulder — but it’s not unlikely that kind of action leads to a red card from some World Cup referees, too. Buchanan’s game is full of snarl. That’s part of what makes him elemental to Marsch. Yet with that attitude comes a fine line to watch for with his physicality.
So here we are. If Buchanan is unavailable for a World Cup game — and that would be serious trouble for Canada — he has no clear understudy.
Is the answer preparing Niko Sigur for that role? Sigur plays right-back and central midfield and is intelligent enough to be able to slot into a different role. But also a concern was Sigur’s play against Iceland. His own error led to Canada being caught out of position ahead of the second goal.
Or is the answer Marcelo Flores? His tenacity, cleverness and spirit on the ball were remarkable in his Canada debut against Iceland.
Not only did Flores likely solidify his World Cup roster spot with the guile he showed, the coaching staff also believe he can be of value on the right side. He might have to be with Buchanan suspended for at least the next game.
Left midfield
Ali Ahmed had a few moments of intrigue with the ball, but was not consistently noticeable against Iceland. This comes after Ahmed has hit the ground running in the English Championship with Norwich City. His lack of dynamic play was a head-scratcher, considering how strong he has been for Canada and how well he has played for his club side.
When Marsch needed Canada to attack with purpose in the second half, they did not always do so from the left side. Ahmed’s 35 touches were the second-lowest of any Canada starter, behind only target man Cyle Larin.
Against Iceland, Richie Laryea, however, continued to look like the player who cemented himself as one of Canada’s best in 2025.
And all of the discussion over the left side of the pitch comes with an Alphonso Davies-sized cloud hanging over it. His absence continues to leave unanswered questions about how the left side will look come June.
Can Richie Laryea and Alphono Davies form a potent combination down the left? (Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
Marsch adores Laryea’s versatility, to the point that he argued before the match he can play Laryea in multiple positions, and has. That includes in attacking positions.
It’s worth wondering if, after the result against Iceland, we end up seeing a Davies-Laryea combination through the World Cup.
Forwards
Tani Oluwaseyi was fit to start against Iceland, but did not feature. Canada know full well what they have in their athletic, straight-line forward. The coaching staff know Oluwaseyi’s workrate is unrelenting and that the Villarreal forward can press and run for days the way Marsch wants his players to.
They will also likely be aware that Oluwaseyi has not scored in his last eight appearances for Canada, seven of them starts. And so while Oluwaseyi is probably still in pole position for the starting forward spot beside Jonathan David, what’s clear is that Canada want to explore options. During a game when so few of Canada’s probable World Cup starters were unavailable due to injury, not starting with Oluwaseyi was telling.
Maybe the spot beside David isn’t locked down after all.
It can be difficult for any forward to make an impact on a coaching staff in a short amount of time. Their touches are few and they’re asked to do one of the most difficult things in the game: create scoring chances.
And yet both Cyle Larin as a starter and Daniel Jebbison as a substitute did just that. Larin continued his strong form, was mobile and got into good spots to make the most of limited chances. Six of his 16 touches were in the opposition’s box.
What stuck out about the way Jebbison played? He was far more involved in the play than he has ever been for Canada. Jebbison was not named in a Canada squad over the last three international windows. There have been times through previous camps when the dual national didn’t always look comfortable in the Canada set-up after becoming eligible to play for them in March 2025.
Yet Marsch turning to Jebbison and then the substitute winning a penalty with his active play suggests there’s a newfound level of comfort on both sides here.
Jebbison might be finding his groove for Canada at the right time. There are likely two forward spots up for grabs in the World Cup roster — that’s assuming Promise David does not recover from surgery in time — and Jebbison may now have the inside track on one of those spots after his performance against Iceland.
“I think that (Jebbison) continues to be a guy that can be an X-factor for us, and make big plays for us even in big games,” Marsch said.
