Canada sending ‘best squad’ to FIFA World Cup on home soil: coach

CHARLOTTE – Jesse Marsch believes the team Canada fields in this summer’s FIFA World Cup could be the best the country has ever put forward. 

Injuries may linger, the head coach said, but the 26-player roster he named on Friday is balanced and ready for any moment. 

“I felt that this was our current best squad and then, probably, one of the best squads if not the best squad that Canada has ever had,” Marsch said in Charlotte, N.C., where the national squad has been training all week. 

“It means that although not every player is at 100 per cent fitness and form, we know that we have enough quality and flexibility within the squad of how we can use different players at different positions that we can be ready for any match and any opponent. What a great feeling as a coach to have.”

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies highlights the roster, despite missing camp due to a hamstring injury. 

He is expected to meet his teammates in Edmonton where the group will play a friendly against Uzbekistan on Monday. Marsch has cautioned that the 25-year-old standout defender will likely not be ready for Canada’s first game of the tournament. 

Several players have been working their way back to full health in recent weeks, and the coach said evaluating each one was one of his largest tasks at the camp. 

“I think we’ve had a pretty good idea of who our core group is for awhile,” Marsch said. “The real X-factor in all of these decisions was trying to determine a month ago, two weeks ago, a week ago, last night which players are going to be healthy and who can we project to be really ready to be close to 100 per cent and in the form of their life going into this tournament.”

Canada’s roster features 13 players who represented the country at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, including Davies, Juventus striker Jonathan David and Hull City midfielder Liam Millar.

The 13 newcomers include goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau of Orlando City, OCG Nice defender Moïse Bombito and Villarreal forward Tani Oluwaseyi. 

Crépeau missed out on the 2022 tournament after breaking his leg while playing for Los Angeles FC in the MLS Cup final. 

“I’m super happy. I’m thinking about my family, the near ones that went through with me, the injury, missing out,” he said of making this year’s roster. “I’m just super happy because, yes, my name is in there, but it’s about them as well.”

Crépeau will be joined by goalkeepers Owen Goodman (Crystal Palace) and Dayne St. Clair (Inter Miami), while the defence corps includes Bombito, Derek Cornelius (Olympique de Marseille), Davies, Luc de Fougerolles (Fulham), Alistair Johnston (Celtic), Alfie Jones (Middlesbrough), Richie Laryea (Toronto FC), Niko Sigur (Hadjuk Split) and Joel Waterman (Chicago Fire). 

Marsch named 10 midfielders to the squad, including Ali Ahmed (Norwich City), Tajon Buchanan (Villarreal), Mathieu Choinière (Los Angeles FC), Stephen Eustáquio (FC Porto), Marcelo Flores (Tigres UANL), Ismaël Koné (U.S. Sassuolo Calcio), Millar, Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC), Nathan Saliba (R.S.C. Anderlecht) and Jacob Shaffelburg (Los Angeles FC).

Alongside David, Canada’s forwards are Promise David (Royale Union Saint-Gilloise), Cyle Larin (RCD Mallorca) and Oluwaseyi.

After facing Uzbekistan in Edmonton on Monday, the national squad will travel to Montreal to take on Ireland on June 5. 

Zorhan Bassong (Sporting Kansas City), Jayden Nelson (Austin FC) and Ralph Priso (Vancouver Whitecaps) did not make the World Cup roster but were at the camp in Charlotte and will stay with the team through the friendly games. 

Marsch said most of the players who didn’t make the roster knew their odds heading into training camp.

“They pushed really hard and they supported everything really well. But they also know that if things were going to fall into place with some of the injuries they were going to be on the outside instead of on the inside,” the coach said. “But they still wanted to commit to this and help us and push and show us that they are ready to be called up and also try to earn a spot.”

Shaffelburg is one player who knows what it’s like to get close to your World Cup dream but ultimately miss out. 

The LAFC midfielder was part of Canada’s training squad in Bahrain ahead of the 2022 tournament, but ultimately missed the cut. 

“I know it’s tough. But I guess I would say the positive is all the guys (who were cut) are younger, so there’s another World Cup in four years. … There’s always another chance to go,” he said. 

There were questions over whether Shaffelburg would make the final cut this year, too, after he went down with a hamstring injury 

“I was kind of preparing myself for either outcome, just to be fair to everything and the situation I was in,” he said. “I didn’t really, really know until today. So I was certainly scared that (the injury) was going to affect it. … I was a little nervous.”

Canada will kick off its tournament against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto on June 12 before shifting to Vancouver for group-stage games against Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.

The roster named on Friday will be ready for the looming tests, Marsch said. 

“We should be really proud as Canadians of what we have here and we should celebrate this team and be ready for them to put on some really good performances,” he said. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2026.