As Canada gears up to co-host the FIFA World Cup, all eyes are on the 30th-ranked men’s national team to make history on home soil.
After two tournament appearances, the Canadian men have never won a World Cup game or made it out of the group stage, a haunting record they want to end this summer.
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The team’s Cinderella run to the 2024 Copa America semi-finals reinvigorated hope for a better showing, but a rash of injuries plaguing the lineup – including superstar captain Alphonso Davies – means the path isn’t as clear as before.
Here are five Canadian players to watch and why they matter to Canada’s quest for World Cup history.
Alphonso Davies
Davies celebrates his goal, the national team's first at a World Cup, against Croatia in the 2022 group stage.Claudio Villa/Getty Images
Canada’s captain is this country’s first bona fide male soccer star and a game-breaker at his best. But whether Davies will be in peak form at his second World Cup is unclear after a hamstring injury with his Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, put the 25-year-old’s fitness in jeopardy just weeks away from the opener.
Born to Liberian parents in a Ghanaian refugee camp and raised in Edmonton, Davies is considered one of the best fullbacks in the world and earned himself the nickname “the Roadrunner” for his lethal combination of explosive speed and power. That something-from-nothing magic made him a national hero in 2022 when he scored Canada’s first goal at a men’s World Cup, and now fans are crossing their fingers he’ll recover in time to do it again on home soil.
Jonathan David
David, seen firing a shot against Australia last October, is Canada's most clinical scorer.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Canada’s all-time top male goal scorer is hungry for his first goal on the only stage that has eluded him so far: the World Cup. Just 26 years old, David is the country’s most dangerous forward, with clinical finishes off both feet and his head helping him score 39 goals in 75 appearances.
But despite a standout nine-goal campaign to help Canada reach the 2022 World Cup, “the Iceman” was ultimately held off the score sheet in Qatar and will be doing everything in his power to stop history from repeating itself. David, born to Haitian parents in New York and raised in Ottawa, has been named Canada Soccer’s top player for the past two years. A single World Cup goal (or more) would cement his status as a hometown hero.
Alistair Johnston
Johnston (2) battles for possession in a 2024 Copa America match against Argentina.Alex Slitz/Getty Images
If the longest year of Johnston’s life has a silver lining, the tenacious right-back is fighting to find it at the World Cup. The 27-year-old was sidelined by a hamstring injury for six months as his Celtic side floundered, but successfully returned in April to help boost the club to an unlikely Scottish Premiership championship.
It’s a promising sign for the Vancouver-born, Aurora, Ont.-raised cornerstone of Canada’s defence, whose standout performance in the 2024 Copa America made him the only non-South American named to the team of the tournament. Johnston has been tireless for Canada with perfectly timed tackles and iron stamina. With signs his offensive game has come along too, Johnston is raring to get back on the pitch – and potentially the scoresheet.
Tajon Buchanan
By passing to Davies in 2022, Buchanan contributed the assist that led to Canada's first World Cup goal.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
The Brampton-born Villarreal winger is no stranger to big moments, or the fight it takes to get there. Buchanan was passed over at the youth level but turned heads at Canada Soccer in 2021 with his move to Belgium’s Club Brugge. Since then, the first Canadian man to play in Italy’s Serie A has entrenched himself as a key part of the World Cup roster with his dynamism, one-on-one ability and game IQ, particularly in transition.
In 2022, Buchanan’s cross found Davies’s head for Canada’s first goal at a men’s World Cup. This summer, the 27-year-old will no doubt be looking to make an even bigger impact and help put his country in the win column of a World Cup game for the first time.
Ismaël Koné
Displaying finesse, Koné controls the ball against Panama in 2023 CONCACAF Nations League action.Lucas Peltier/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
The rising star midfielder is about to meet his biggest moment yet. Koné has scored four goals on 38 appearances for Canada since 2022. But his breakout six-goal haul for Serie A’s Sassuolo has kicked up a storm of interest in what the 23-year-old Montrealer can do for his country – if he keeps his cool.
Koné, who was born in Ivory Coast and moved to Canada at 7, is an undeniable talent whose creative style and physicality help him break up the opposing team’s line and make unexpected plays. While his emotions have at times gotten the best of him on the field, he now has the chance to show the world his most mature game.
With reports from Cathal Kelly, Paul Attfield, Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press and Reuters
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