The men’s national soccer team of Canada has won two Concacaf championships (1985 and 2000). Canada finished sixth at both the 2017 and 2019 Concacaf Gold Cups and fifth in the 2019–2020 Concacaf Nations League, making it one of just four countries to do so between 2017 and 2020.
Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Program also won two Concacaf Championships (1985 and 2000) as well as two Concacaf youth titles at the U-20 level (1996, 2006). Canada has participated at the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Confederations Cup, Olympic Games as well as 15 FIFA youth tournaments since 1979.
A new generation of young players joined the Canadian national team, led by Alphonso Davies of Bayern Munich, the first Canadian to win the UEFA Champions League, Jonathan David, the most expensive player in Canadian soccer history, who joined Lille for a €30 million fee in 2020, and the formation of the Canadian Premier League, the nation’s first fully professional soccer league.
Coach John Herdman gave fans a sneak peek Friday into the player puzzle he is trying to put together before the Canadian men compete in the World Cup for the first time in 36 years as time was of the essence.
During the penultimate FIFA international window before the World Cup in Qatar, Canada, now ranked 43rd in the world, will play No. 48 Qatar on September 23 in Vienna and No. 13 Uruguay on September 27 in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The squad
Goalkeepers
Milan Borjan, Maxime Crepeau, Dayne St. Clair
Defenders
Samuel Adekugbe, Derek Cornelius, Alphonso Davies, Alistair Johnston, Scott Kennedy, Richie Laryea, Kamal Miller, Steven Vitoria, Joel Waterman
Midfielders
Stephen Eustaquio, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Ismael Kone, Jonathan Osorio, Samuel Piette,
Forwards
Charles-Andreas Brym, Tajon Buchanan, Lucas Cavallini, Theo Corbeanu, Jonathan David David (Junior) Hoilett, Luca Koleosho, Cyle Larin, Liam Millar, Ike Ugbo,
Defensemen Waterman, Kamal Miller, and Alistair Johnston, midfielders Samuel Piette and Ismael Kone, fullback Richie Laryea, midfielders Kaye and Osorio, and striker Lucas Cavallini from the Whitecaps are among the players with MLS experience.
Before the World Cup begins on November 20, the Canadian men will play one final warm-up game versus No. 24 Japan at Dubai’s Al Maktoum Stadium.
After facing No. 15 Croatia on Nov. 27 and No. 23 Morocco on Dec. 1, Canada begins Group F play on Nov. 23 against No. 2 Belgium.
As part of their ongoing training for the main event in Qatar, Canada will compete against Qatar and Uruguay this month.
Player to watch
Jonathan David, Lille’s new magician, is the talk of the European football transfer market right now. He is currently in the spotlight after assisting Lille to a shocking French Ligue 1 championship win in 2020–2021.
His statistics are positive. The sole factor that has contributed to Lille’s dominant play in France’s top level of football has been his consistency.
David moved to Belgium’s First Division A powerhouse KAA Gent in 2018. He had started his career as a young player with Ottawa Gloucester SC. He scored around 30 goals in 60 league games, which was very helpful for the Belgian team.
Lille had plenty of information to determine his availability from this. It’s interesting how Lille’s choice to sign the Canadian to a contract in French Ligue 1 worked out.
The Les Dogues won the championship with the help of Jonathan David, who had a total of 13 goals in 37 league games for the team.
The constancy of the Canadian soccer player, as well as his eye for goal at all times, are two fascinating qualities.
