Canada forward Tani Oluwaseyi (12) uses his speed and strength to help Canada's offence.Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
At a World Cup that has been largely defined by superstar strikers, Canada has mostly relied on scoring by committee to this point.
While the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane continue to make a mockery of long-standing tournament records, turning the Golden Boot race into something of a World Cup side quest, Canada’s attackers are taking turns sharing the spotlight.
Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Promise David have all chipped in for the country’s cause at different points as the men’s national team moves into uncharted territory – a round-of-16 date with world No. 7 Morocco on Saturday.
Despite two starts through four games, and more minutes than every striker bar Jonathan David, Tani Oluwaseyi has yet to find the back of the net. It’s not for a lack of trying. He almost broke the deadlock on Sunday, using his pace to get beyond the South African defence, with goalkeeper Ronwen Williams making a one-handed save to deny the 26-year-old a World Cup breakthrough.
But then Oluwaseyi’s place in the team isn’t judged purely on goals, which is a good thing for a player with just two in 28 appearances. There’s an argument to be made that his combination of speed, size, athleticism and hard work makes him the best all-around forward amongst the group, and in head coach Jesse Marsch’s up-tempo system, those attributes make him invaluable.
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“I think I press really well,” Oluwaseyi said. “I think I’m just a very, very aggressive player, really good at holding the ball up, good at breaking play up.”
While he admits he doesn’t “score as many goals as I wish I did,” his struggles to put up numbers are hardly new. After registering 20 goals in 62 matches across the 2024 and 2025 Major League Soccer seasons for Minnesota United, he joined Villarreal in Spain’s La Liga last August.
But playing in one of Europe’s biggest leagues, the goals dried up. Oluwaseyi, who was born in the Nigerian capital of Abuja before moving to Mississauga at age 10, scored just twice in 27 appearances in Spain’s top flight, adding five more in 10 matches in the Champions League and Copa del Rey combined.
Once again, the statistics don’t tell the full story.
While Oluwaseyi hasn't been a prolific goal scorer, he says he presses and brings a physicality to the game that helps Canada.ANNE-MARIE SORVIN/Reuters
“I think for me it was important that I didn’t focus on what my numbers looked like and more focused on how much better I was getting as a player,” he said. “I think overall I’m a better player now than I was before I went there.”
It helped having a familiar face alongside him, with Canadian national teammate Tajon Buchanan having moved there in January 2025. Buchanan helped Oluwaseyi settle in, and though Buchanan apparently “hates leaving his house,” the two share dinners on a regular basis.
Though Spain provided obvious language barriers, Oluwaseyi quickly settled into one of nation’s features – its laid-back way of life.
“Best thing I would say about living in Spain is how relaxed everyone is. I think they’re very easygoing people,” he said. “They love a siesta. I love a siesta. So I think in a lot of ways it’s a match made in heaven.”
However, he also had to reconcile with playing in a country that has famously had recurring issues with racism at soccer matches, which culminated last year with five Valladolid fans found guilty of racially abusing Real Madrid and Brazil star Vinicius Junior in 2022.
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Though he wouldn’t comment on any particular incident, he added that as a Black player, he just accepts that it’s unfortunately par for the course.
“It’s something that I’ve had to deal with,” he said. “But the older you get, and the more you experience it, you, as sad as it sounds, you kind of get used to compartmentalizing, not letting it bother you so much.
“I think we do a good job of trying to find the humour in it to make it easier for ourselves to deal with.”
On a more positive note, his move to Spain has also allowed him to experience Champions League soccer for the first time. As someone that grew up supporting Arsenal and idolizing former French captain turned commentator Thierry Henry, getting to play at the highest level was a lifetime goal fulfilled.
Oluwaseyi (12) scored his first Champions League goal in his fifth game. Will he do the same on Saturday, as Canada goes into its fifth game of the World Cup, against Morocco?FRANK GUNN/The Canadian Press
He made an impression on that stage too, scoring his first goal in the competition against Copenhagen, before volleying home a spectacular strike from outside the area against legendary Dutch club Ajax.
“I’ve watched Champions League for as long as I can remember,” he said. “And to be in those games, to hear the anthem, and not only just be watching it, and be able to participate in it, and then the goal I scored against Ajax, I’ve dreamed of scoring goals like that.”
It took Oluwaseyi four games to find his feet in the Champions League, breaking through for his first goal against Copenhagen in Game No. 5.
Maybe fifth time will be the charm at the World Cup, too.