Fans stand for the national anthems at Canada's World Cup opening match against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto on Friday.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
Heading into the 2026 World Cup, it’s fair to say that the global narrative around the Canadian men’s national team has changed compared to four years ago.
Thierry Henry, a World Cup winner with France in 1998 and now a commentator for Fox’s tournament coverage in the United States, pulled few punches Friday when previewing a team that just two years ago finished fourth at the Copa America.
“Are you still going to talk about, ‘We are a little country,’ like you did here in the Nations League?” he said. “I was reporting that game. ‘Oh, we only little.’ No, you’re not little any more.
“You went to the semi-final of the Copa America. You wanted to be that guy? Now, you are that guy. You have to talk the talk and walk the walk.”
With Canada still looking for a first World Cup win following Friday’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina, which secured the Canadian men’s national team’s first-ever point, head coach Jesse Marsch certainly has some things to consider ahead of next Thursday’s game in Vancouver against Qatar.
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Set-piece setbacks
At the highest levels of the sport, execution is everything. Marsch and his men learned that lesson the hard way on Friday. After dominating much of the opening exchanges, playing on the front foot and consistently looking the more likely team to open the scoring, Canada sputtered in front of goal.
Nowhere did that difference look more glaring than when it came to corner kicks. Canada owned a 9-1 edge in that department at halftime, yet it was Bosnia that had a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard, owing to a 21st-minute corner-kick routine that saw Jovo Lukic head a flick-on from teammate Sead Kolasinac past Maxime Crépeau.
In that situation, it certainly helped that the Bosnians are the tallest team in the tournament, which helps them both offensively and defensively, but Canada needs to find a way to make its own deliveries count.
“They maybe caught [us] a bit surprised, which obviously cannot happen again at this level,” said defender Luc de Fougerolles.
“Bosnia is a big team. I think we looked today, it is the biggest team in the tournament, so maybe we do a few more short routines to kind of move them around a bit, because in the first half the corners weren’t really working. But yeah, something we can look at and take into Qatar.”
In wasn’t just corners amounting to nothing. Through the first four games of the tournament, Canada has the most corners (nine), free kicks (20) and throw-ins (32). Marsch and his set-piece coach, Nicolas Gagnon, have work to do.
The David dilemma
Canada forward Jonathan David battles Esmir Bajraktarevic for possession during Friday's match.Bernadett Szabo/Reuters
Long Canada’s talisman, striker Jonathan David is the program’s leading scorer, with 39 goals in 78 appearances. Unfortunately, he hasn’t scored from open play in his last 10 games for his country, with his lone offensive contribution in that time being the pair of penalties he converted in a March warm-up game against Iceland. And that lack of sharpness revealed itself at the worst possible time on Friday.
He had arguably the best chance of the game to score – better even than the chance that Cyle Larin ultimately tucked inside the post – but his left-footed shot from the penalty spot was straight at the Bosnia goalkeeper, one of his team-high three attempts. Perhaps reflective of the role he’s being asked to play, as chief creator as well as clinical finisher, David had only seven touches in the Bosnia box, but did account for a team-high 15 of Canada’s 50 forced turnovers.
Despite Canada still chasing the game, Marsch made David one of his first offensive changes in the 61st minute, bringing on Promise David in his place. Though the bold move paid off, with the substitute teeing up Larin for the equalizer, Marsch has something to think about.
“Jonny didn’t have his best day,” Marsch said afterwards. “It’s normal that a player doesn’t always play at his peak, but he’s an incredibly important player for us. … Without him in top form, we’re not the same team that we have the potential to be.”
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Millar time
Winger Liam Millar had another good day for Canada.
Millar’s quick feet and his ability to cut inside, beat defenders and deliver an accurate pass or cross were all on display against Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Hull City man was always an option on the left flank.
Millar was involved from the get-go, with his first-minute long throw-in triggering the first of Canada’s nine corners.
Millar combined well with Richie Laryea and, during his 60 minutes on the pitch, offered more of a threat than teammate Tajon Buchanan on the right side. Millar was able to befuddle defenders and deliver crosses, albeit with the occasional misfire.
Millar found an open Jonathan David in the Bosnian penalty box in the 28th minute after a Canadian free kick. David’s ensuing shot was blocked, however.
Sidelined for 11 months by a knee injury, Millar returned to action with Hull in late September and went on to help the Championship side win promotion to the Premier League with a 1-0 playoff final win over Middlesbrough on May 23.
With injuries to captain Alphonso Davies, Ali Ahmed and Jacob Shaffelburg reducing the options on Canada’s left flank, Millar has made the most of the opportunity.
Cutting edge
Canada fans cheer Cyle Larin's tying goal in the 78th minute.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
While David, both by dint of his reputation and track record, bears a lot of the criticism for Canada’s attacking follies, his teammates were by no means blameless.
Marsch’s team had 10 attempts from inside the penalty area – double Bosnia’s output – but only had the one goal to show for it. Coming into the game, Jonathan David and Larin had a combined 69 national-team goals between them, while the younger Oluwaseyi and Promise David had a combined five.
Yet Marsch opted to pair Jonathan David with Oluwaseyi to start, and for a period of 15 or so minutes had Promise David alongside Oluwaseyi before introducing Larin.
It’s not like the team around them isn’t creating chances. That provides confidence heading into the second game against Qatar. Canada will not only be expected to win, but also boost its goal differential in the process, which may help in determining where it finishes in the group.
Millar, for one, is far from worried.
“I’m not stressed about us not scoring or whatever, like people are talking about,” he said. “How many clear-cut chances do we have today? Eventually these go in. It’s like one of them where, if you’re not making the chances, that’s the problem. … Can we score a couple more? Maybe, but that’s okay, next time they’ll go in.”
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Youth is served
Along with his team’s resilient comeback, Marsch will feel happy about the play of two of the younger players on his team.
Both 23-year-old midfielder Ismaël Koné, who ultimately won man of the match, and the 20-year-old de Fougerolles were outstanding in what was a very testing environment against a battle-hardened European team, with the pair playing the full 90 minutes.
De Fougerolles, who only landed the starting gig – just his 14th national-team appearance – because of the ongoing rehabilitation of star centre back Moïse Bombito, showed real poise at this level, likely giving Marsch one less thing to think about heading into next Thursday’s match.
Canada by the numbers
- In entertaining Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada became the 19th nation to host a FIFA World Cup match in the 96-year history of the men’s tournament.
- Canada has never lost an international match when Larin has scored (the Canadian men are 22-0-3 in such games).
- The Canada vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina game marked the 100th meeting of CONCACAF and UEFA representatives at the men’s World Cup.
- Canadian midfielder Jonathan Osorio, who came in off the bench in stoppage time, celebrated his 34th birthday Friday, becoming the oldest outfield player to feature in a World Cup fixture on his birthday.
- At 20 years and 243 days, de Fougerolles is the third-youngest player to appear for Canada at the flagship men’s tournament, behind goalkeeper Paul Dolan (20 years and 46 days, versus France in 1986) and Koné (20 years, 160 days versus Belgium in 2022).
Source: FIFA