Soccer in Canada | Canada Hosting the 2026 World Cup

[Antigonish]

Originally Posted by elly63

Ike Ugbo (Sheffield Wednesday) scored two in an English Championship game

I'm streaming the Wednesday vs Bristol City game right now and Ugbo has already scored 2 goals so far in the 1st half; Wednesday are up 2-1 at HT.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

The boys performance in the WC qualifiers (less so the WC) got them a lot of attention and now playing time in big European markets. It's going to be a much more seasoned and mature bunch in '26. Not sure why anyone is suggesting Canada Soccer's failings is going to affect the quality on the field?? We had one of the youngest teams in Qatar and all of those players are seemingly getting better with time!

I'm in the camp that the WC was not all that bad. They should have beaten the second ranked team in the world and the other losses came to teams that went to the semi finals. Pretty tough group, but good experience for a team that will return with many of the same players. Lots of options up front but gets scarcer moving back.

It will be interesting to see who ends up coaching the team. They'll need to have somebody in place if they can qualify for Copa America. If Biello qualifies for Copa he might be in the mix, if he loses to T&T, he's gone.

Some players (Sigma alums) are campaigning for four time CPL champs, Forge FC's Bobby Smyrniotis. He would be an interesting choice over any foreigner that applies and apparently the job is being sought after by the likes of Thierry Henry who would likely not be a good choice.

[elly63]

Real Madrid reach verbal agreement with Alphonso Davies over transfer from Bayern Munich
Mario Cortegana and Raphael Honigstein theathletic.com February 26, 2024

Real Madrid and Alphonso Davies have reached a verbal agreement for the Bayern Munich left-back to join in 2024 or 2025.

The La Liga club — led by chief scout Juni Calafat and director general Jose Angel Sanchez — have been in contact with Davies’ camp for some time and have asked him since the beginning of the talks not to renew his contract with Bayern, which expires in 2025, so he can join them.

There have been several meetings in recent weeks, including one in person in Madrid in mid-February, which have accelerated the process further.

There are two options on the table with Real open to doing a deal for a below-market price this summer — much like Toni Kroos’ move in 2014 — or the following year when Davies’ contract ends, like David Alaba in 2021.

Despite preliminary interest from rivals Barcelona as well as clubs in England, who have been monitoring the situation, Davies’ preference at this stage is to move to Madrid.

...

[elly63]

Like the Gold Cup a while back, Canada has released a provisional 57 man roster for the Trinidad and Tobago match on March 23, 2024 that leads to a spot in the Copa America.

This list gives us an idea of most of the players in contention for an NT roster position.

Seven former CPL players included in CanMNT preliminary squad for 2024 Copa América play-in match
Mitchell Tierney, Digital Content Producer canpl.ca February 26, 2024

On Monday, Concacaf revealed the preliminary rosters for the four sides competing in the play-in round of the 2024 Copa América, including Canada.

The Canadian men’s national team take on Trinidad and Tobago on March 23 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, with the winner of the match qualifying for this summer’s Copa America tournament.

Canada’s final 23-player squad, which will be announced at a later date, must come from players included in their preliminary roster. Canada’s is headlined by the usual suspects, Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, Stephen Eustáquio and Cyle Larin.

Each nation was allowed to name up to 60 players to their preliminary list, with Canada naming 57. That included seven who previously played in the Canadian Premier League: Diyaeddine Abzi (York), Cavalry’s Victor Loturi, Joel Waterman and Dominick Zator (who also played for York), Lukas MacNaughton (Pacific), and former Valour goalkeepers James Pantemis and Jonathan Sirois.

Sirois and Abzi have yet to receive call-ups to the senior men’s national team. Sirois, 22, has been outstanding for CF Montréal of late, winning the starting goalkeeper job last season and being named the club’s defensive player of the year for 2023. During his time in the CPL with Valour, he won the league’s Golden Glove award in 2021.

Abzi, meanwhile, has spent the past two seasons in Europe. The 25-year-old initially joined Pau in Ligue 2, before being loaned to Leganés, who currently sit top of the Spanish Segunda División. The fullback has previously represented Canada at the U-23 and Futsal levels. While with York, Abzi was nominated for the Best Under-21 Canadian Player of the Award during the league’s inaugural season, 2019.

Dual national Lucas Pos is another intriguing inclusion in this list, as the American-born central defender is rumoured to be considering a switch to Canada. The 26-year-old plays for Stade Lausanne Ouchy in the Swiss top flight, and could be a nice add to Canada’s central defensive depth.

Trinidad and Tobago is expected to have a strong Canadian Premier League contingent of their own for this match, as Halifax Wanderers duo Ryan Telfer and Andre Rampersad are recent call-ups, as is Malcolm Shaw, who spent this past season with Atlético Ottawa. All are included in the Soca Warriors’ preliminary roster, as is Toronto FC first overall pick Tyrese Spicer.

For Canada’s full preliminary roster, as well as that of Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras and Costa Rica (the latter two meet in the other play-in match) click here.

[elly63]

Goalkeepers

Milan Borjan (Slovan Bratislava)
Maxime Crépeau (Portland Timbers
Tom McGill (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Brighton & Hove Albion)
James Pantemis (Portland Timbers)
Jonathan Sirois (CF Montreal)
Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United)

Defenders

Diyaeddine Abzi (Leganes)
Sam Adekugbe (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Ali Ahmed (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Zorhan Bassong (Sporting Kansas City)
Moïse Bombito (Colorado Rapids)
Derek Cornelius (Malmo)
Luc de Fougerolles (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Fulham)
Raheem Edwards (CF Montreal)
Kyle Hiebert (St. Louis City)
Alistair Johnston (󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Celtic)
Mark-Anthony Kaye (New England Revolution)
Scott Kennedy (Wolfsberger)
Jamie Knight-Lebel (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Bristol City)
Richie Laryea (Toronto FC)
Lukas MacNaughton (Nashville SC)
Zac McGraw (Portland Timbers)
Kamal Miller (Portland Timbers)
Luca Petrasso (Triestina)
Lucas Pos (Stade Lausanne Ouchy)
Steven Vitória (Chaves)
Joel Waterman (CF Montreal)
Dominick Zator (Korona Kielce)

Midfielders

Mathieu Choinière (CF Montreal)
Simon Colyn (De Graafschap)
Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)
Stephen Eustáquio (Porto)
Liam Fraser (FC Dallas)
Ismaël Koné (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Watford)
Victor Loturi (󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Ross County)
Liam Millar (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Preston North End)
Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC)
Harry Paton (󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Motherwell)
Samuel Piette (CF Montreal)
Ralph Priso (Colorado Rapids)
Ryan Raposo (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Nathan Saliba (CF Montreal)
Justin Smith (Avranches)

Forwards

Stephen Afrifa (Sporting Kansas City)
Theo Bair (󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Motherwell)
Charles-Andreas Brym (Sparta Rotterdam)
Tajon Buchanan (Inter Milan)
Lucas Cavallini (Puebla)
Theo Corbeanu (Granada)
Jonathan David (Lille)
Junior Hoilett (󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Aberdeen)
Deandre Kerr (Toronto FC)
Cyle Larin (Mallorca)
Jayden Nelson (Rosenborg)
Jacen Russell-Rowe (Columbus Crew)
Jacob Shaffelburg (Nashville SC)
Iké Ugbo (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Sheffield Wednesday)

[northernlights99]

I'm wondering if they can somehow move the Lionel Messi game into Olympic Stadium, I know it would be complex to do as tickets have already been sold but games have been moved before, they could find a way of relocating fans.

contrary to what has been reported, Olympic Stadium isn't completely closed yet, they still have the Electric car show coming up in April.

I believe it will be a Very long time before a new roof is installed, maybe years, but I'm ok with that, fix the partial roof and have it as a partial open air stadium for a while.

considering the tremendous demand for this game in all cities, they really should have a game of this magnitude in Olympic Stadium.

65,000 would look splendid. I believe the demand justifies the move into a bigger venue.

[jonny24]

Is Messi the new Swift?

[megadude]

When Becks and the Galaxy played TFC in CONCACAF Champs League, that game was at the Dome. It was early March, so it made sense regardless. Stadium was packed and good vibes. We got there well in advance and brought my two new British friends. During warmups she stood over the tunnel entrance and shouted DAVID in her British accent and he turned around and smiled at her. Made her day.

She and her BF were only in TO for 9 months, working temp jobs or whatever, before embarking on a 3 month NA tour. During those 9 months she also submitted their pics to a talent agency classified ad for extras. They got chosen for the Total Recall remake. I did not. Anyway, they ended up in two scenes, one of which had them standing right beside Colin Farrell and Jessica Biel. Between takes she told me that Colin was super friendly and given the British Isles connection, he talked to them quite a bit about why they were here, etc. He was also got to know the same homeless guy he would see everytime he came to TO and would chat him up and give him a few bucks or something. Definitely charismatic.

[elly63]

Kevin Blue ushers in new era of leadership at Canada Soccer
Former Stanford, University of California-Davis, and Golf Canada executive appointed as new General Secretary and CE
canadasoccer.com February 29, 2024

Canada Soccer announced today that Kevin Blue has been named its new General Secretary and CEO, bringing with him a range of successful experience in commercial, sport, and chief executive roles.

Blue joins Canada Soccer after serving as Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer since 2021, where he oversaw a range of functions for the NSO and helped to drive over $20M in new financial support for the national teams and grass roots programming.

Previously, Blue was a leading college sports executive in the United States, where he held the role of Athletics Director at the University of California, Davis. Blue was the youngest AD in Division I at the time of his hire – age 33 – and led a successful cultural and financial turnaround of the Division I school over the next five years. UC Davis experienced record fundraising and revenue-generating totals along with best-ever competitive performances in several sports. Blue’s tenure was highlighted by the fundraising and construction of a new $52M sports performance and medical center.

Kevin also emerged as a widely read national thought leader on issues related to the financial structure of US college sports. His essay “Rising Expenses in College Sports and the Non-Profit Paradox” appeared as expert testimony in a US Senate hearing about college sports finance.

Prior to UC Davis, Kevin worked in progressively senior commercial roles and eventually led the commercial functions of Stanford’s $120M athletics department. Revenue grew sharply during his seven years at Stanford and the Cardinal football team made three Rose Bowl appearances in a four year stretch. The Stanford soccer teams produced international stars such as Christen Press, Kelly O’Hara, and Jordan Morris.

“In Kevin, we have a transformational and results oriented leader on our team to help guide us towards a more positive future for soccer in Canada and to capture the incredible opportunities ahead.” said Charmaine Crooks, Canada Soccer President.

Blue holds a Ph.D. in Sport Psychology from Michigan State University and a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University where he was captain of the golf team. Kevin was named one of Canada’s “Five to Watch” in sports business for 2023.

Kevin and his wife Betsy have four children – Jalen, Baron, Brooklyn, and Maya – and live in Mississauga, Ontario.

Blue will officially begin in his new role on March 14, 2024.

Career Highlights:

Stanford University — oversaw the commercial areas of the NCAA’s most successful athletics department.

University of California, Davis — became the youngest Athletics Director in Division-I at the time of his hire. Drove a cultural and financial turnaround at the Division-I school and emerged as a national thought leader on college sports finance.

Golf Canada — served as the Chief Sport Officer where he made a significant impact programmatically while helping to drive over $20 million in new financial support for the national teams and grassroots programming.

Sports Executive Leadership — named one of Canada’s “Five to Watch” in 2023 and has authored several internationally-recognized white papers on the Business of Sports and Non-Profit Athletics.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by elly63

Goalkeepers

Milan Borjan (Slovan Bratislava)
Maxime Crépeau (Portland Timbers
Tom McGill (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Brighton & Hove Albion)
James Pantemis (Portland Timbers)
Jonathan Sirois (CF Montreal)
Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United)

Defenders

Diyaeddine Abzi (Leganes)
Sam Adekugbe (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Ali Ahmed (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Zorhan Bassong (Sporting Kansas City)
Moïse Bombito (Colorado Rapids)
Derek Cornelius (Malmo)
Luc de Fougerolles (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Fulham)
Raheem Edwards (CF Montreal)
Kyle Hiebert (St. Louis City)
Alistair Johnston (󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Celtic)
Mark-Anthony Kaye (New England Revolution)
Scott Kennedy (Wolfsberger)
Jamie Knight-Lebel (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Bristol City)
Richie Laryea (Toronto FC)
Lukas MacNaughton (Nashville SC)
Zac McGraw (Portland Timbers)
Kamal Miller (Portland Timbers)
Luca Petrasso (Triestina)
Lucas Pos (Stade Lausanne Ouchy)
Steven Vitória (Chaves)
Joel Waterman (CF Montreal)
Dominick Zator (Korona Kielce)

Midfielders

Mathieu Choinière (CF Montreal)
Simon Colyn (De Graafschap)
Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)
Stephen Eustáquio (Porto)
Liam Fraser (FC Dallas)
Ismaël Koné (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Watford)
Victor Loturi (󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Ross County)
Liam Millar (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Preston North End)
Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC)
Harry Paton (󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Motherwell)
Samuel Piette (CF Montreal)
Ralph Priso (Colorado Rapids)
Ryan Raposo (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Nathan Saliba (CF Montreal)
Justin Smith (Avranches)

Forwards

Stephen Afrifa (Sporting Kansas City)
Theo Bair (󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Motherwell)
Charles-Andreas Brym (Sparta Rotterdam)
Tajon Buchanan (Inter Milan)
Lucas Cavallini (Puebla)
Theo Corbeanu (Granada)
Jonathan David (Lille)
Junior Hoilett (󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Aberdeen)
Deandre Kerr (Toronto FC)
Cyle Larin (Mallorca)
Jayden Nelson (Rosenborg)
Jacen Russell-Rowe (Columbus Crew)
Jacob Shaffelburg (Nashville SC)
Iké Ugbo (󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Sheffield Wednesday)

57 players basically told to have your passport up to date and clear your schedule. That is a huge ratio to the 23 players who can get picked eventually.

[northernlights99]

Originally Posted by jonny24

Is Messi the new Swift?

Swift is an order of magnitude above Messi. Maybe two orders.

I was at the Beckham game at BC Place, crowd was well under capacity, about 48,000, it was Not a sellout of 60,000, there were lots of empties in the end zones and there was even a streaker running on the field.

When Beckham left the game, fans left also. Vancouver ain't a real soccer town, fans should have stayed till the end. Those fans that went to see Beckham likely never attended any other Whitecaps game.

As soon as Beckham left, mass exodus. It was funny to see and sad also.

Vancouver is just a big ticket town, it will support Messi and Swift and of course the Canucks, not much else I'm afraid.

I'm perplexed why the Electric EV car show will go ahead at Olympic Stadium in April yet they can't move the Messi game in there shortly after, games have been relocated before, I realize tickets have been sold already but fans that are placed at Saputo can be placed in equivalent seating in Olympic, they're still seeing the game.

I wouldn't mind being on upper deck, it would look better having 60,000 there versus 20,000. There is tremendous demand for this game and it will be great for Montreal, I think they should make an effort to move it into the bigger venue.

I can only conclude that the Impact are fodder for Olympic Stadium management, they are on a very tight construction schedule and will shut everything down after this Electric EV car show. The show was booked in advance so they are honoring the date and rightly so.

Messi is in the game but it is still part of Montreal FC's schedule, I just think why not extend the deadline a month or so cause this game is shortly after this car show.

I can appreciate the need to get the Roof reconstructed by a particular date for next year, so the deadline is tight; I think we can all see what the priority is and where this is heading.

[Antigonish]

Ike Ugbo just scored again for Wednesday in the 65th minute against Rotherham. Surely in this form he'll get a call up for the NT for this month's international break??

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Antigonish

Ike Ugbo just scored again for Wednesday in the 65th minute against Rotherham. Surely in this form he'll get a call up for the NT for this month's international break??

I would have to think that at the present time Larin can no longer be considered an automatic if others are stepping up their game and he isn't scoring. Larin's past NT record has been stellar but Herdman always wanted to reward those who were producing for their clubs, playing and in form (as Ugbo is)

One good thing we've been seeing lately is some guys who have been scoring from distance. Larin and David's scoring is often nearby headers and tap-ins, it's nice to see some danger from outside the box (Millar, Kone)

Lot's of good offensive choices now but we have to start producing some high quality defenders

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Antigonish

Ike Ugbo just scored again for Wednesday in the 65th minute against Rotherham. Surely in this form he'll get a call up for the NT for this month's international break??

Theo Bair is making his case for a call-up. He was named Player of the Match as his Motherwell side beat league leading Rangers at Ibrox (first win there in nine years) and ended Rangers 11 game winning streak. Bair is top five on the SPL scoring llist.

[elly63]

Another big day for Canadian players.
Lille's Jonathan David has just stolen a goal vs Reims
Jayden Nelson has scored for Rosenborg in a friendly against Molde.

[elly63]

Another big one on Sunday as Theo Corbeanu scores his first La Liga goal for Granada as they lose to Villlareal 5-1

[elly63]

Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team to play the Netherlands in June Window
canadasoccer.com March 7, 2024

Canada Soccer announced today with the Royal Dutch Football Association that Canada’s Men’s National Team will play an international friendly against the Netherlands (Oranje) in the June FIFA Window.

The match will take place on Thursday, June 6 at Stadion Feijenoord, in Rotterdam at 20:45 (LOCAL) / 14:45 (EST).

“We are very excited for our Men’s National Team to be playing a Top 6 FIFA-ranked opponent. The opportunity to play against the top teams in the world will serve as an opportunity to continue our development on the journey to our home FIFA World Cup.”
​– Kevin Blue, incoming Canada Soccer General Secretary and CEO

This will mark Canada’s second-ever meeting with the Dutch. In the run-up to the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the teams met on June 12, 1994 at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.

Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team will face Trinidad & Tobago on March 23 in the Concacaf Nations League Play-In for one of the final two places at the 2024 Copa América competition this coming summer. The winner of the Play-In match will join already qualified Concacaf countries – Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, and the United States – along with the winner of the second of the two Concacaf Nations League Play-In matches played on 23 March between Honduras and Costa Rica, for a total of six Concacaf guest national teams in this summer’s tournament.

Canada Soccer are actively looking to schedule another opponent.

CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ​

Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team have recently finished as runners up in the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League and reached the Quarterfinals at the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup. In 2022, Canada returned to the men’s FIFA World Cup for the first time in 36 years after they finished first in the Concacaf Final Round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Canada now look to qualify for the 2024 Copa América, co-organized between Concacaf and CONMEBOL, set to be played this summer in the United States.

[elly63]

Jonathan David scores two in Lille's Europa Conference League 3-0 win over Austria's Sturm Graz

[elly63]

On Sunday, with Lille down 2-0 to Rennes after 84 minutes, Jonathan David scores two to tie the game (84', 92'). He is second in Ligue 1 scoring to Kylian Mbappe.

• Video Link

[elly63]

Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team to play Mexico in September Window
canadasoccer.com March 12, 2024

Canada Soccer, alongside the Mexican Football Federation, has announced today that Canada’s Men’s National Team will play an international friendly against Mexico in the September FIFA Window.

The match will take place on Tuesday, September 10 at AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. The match will serve as preparation for the 2024-25 Concacaf Nations League and the ongoing journey towards the 2026 FIFA World Cup, for which Canada will co-host with Mexico and the United States.

“We are thrilled to announce another high-quality opponent for a friendly with our Men’s National Team,” said Kevin Blue, incoming Canada Soccer General Secretary and CEO. “Continuing to play against the top teams will greatly increase our preparations for major tournaments on the road to our home FIFA World Cup.”

This will mark Canada’s first meeting with Mexico since 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying, in which Canada was victorious in a 2-1 win on November 16 2021 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, AB in a match that would be later be dubbed as ‘The Battle of Iceteca”. Canada’s next previous meeting was also in 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying, in which Canada and Mexico drew 1-1 at Estadio Azteca on October 8 2021, Canada’s first point at the Azteca since 1980. Canada could still face Mexico in the 2024 Copa América, should Canada qualify and both teams advance to the knockout sages.

Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team will face Trinidad & Tobago on March 23 in the Concacaf Nations League Play-In for one of the final two places at the 2024 Copa América competition this coming summer. The winner of the Play-In match will join already qualified Concacaf countries – Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, and the United States – along with the winner of the additional Concacaf Nations League Play-In match played on March 23 between Honduras and Costa Rica, for a total of six Concacaf guest nations in this summer’s tournament. Should Canada qualify, they will be placed in Group A alongside Argentina, Chile and Peru. They will also feature in the tournament’s debut match, against the current world champions Argentina.