For the first time in a while, it seems like Canada doesn’t have a new injury to manage after a busy weekend of football in Europe and in North America. In fact, it was a pretty good weekend, all told, for many of the players in the mix for Canada’s 26-player squad for this summer’s 2026 FIFA World Cup. Alphonso Davies maybe had the best weekend of the bunch.
We’ll get back to Davies in a minute, but a quick look at some other key names who featured prominently this week. Jonathan David scored his first goal since February in Juventus’s 2-0 win over Bologna. With another loss for Como, the Bianconeri now have a five-point cushion in fourth place in the Serie A table for the final Champions League spot.
In England, Southampton stayed red-hot following up a midweek win over Blackburn Rovers with a 2-1 win over Swansea City on Saturday. Brampton, Ont.’s Cyle Larin once again played a prominent role for Saints, scoring his fifth league goal of the season in the 3-0 win over Rovers. Now unbeaten in 16, Southampton sits only one point back of automatic promotion with three matches to play and has an FA Cup semifinal with Manchester City on the horizon later this month.
And now back to Davies, who made his first start for Bayern Munich since Feb. 21 in the team’s 4-2 win over Stuttgart on Saturday. Davies would score what would end being the game-winning goal, deflected off of defender Julian Chabot, late in the first half. It was Davies’ first goal of the season and his first in over a year.
The win wrapped up another Bundesliga title for Bayern, Davies’ seventh since joining the team from Vancouver Whitecaps in 2018. The team might not be done, either. Bayern still has the potential for another treble, which would be their third ever and first since 2020. Bayern is set to take on Bayer Leverkusen in the final four of the DFB-Pokal and will face holders Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals of the Champions League.
What does this mean for Davies and Canada? For Steven Caldwell, nothing when it comes to where he wants to see Davies line up. Despite unlocking literally everybody in his back line on last week’s Race for the Roster, Caldwell still prefers Davies up on the wing, rather than at left-back where he plays for Bayern.
Caldwell’s logic is simple - if healthy, all three of Davies, Richie Laryea and Alistair Johnston belong in the starting XI. If Davies plays up, Laryea can slot in at left-back and Johnston will start at his normal right-back spot. Should Johnston, who’s been hampered by injury all season, be unable to start, Jesse Marsch will have the option of moving Laryea, who’s had an excellent start to the season with Toronto FC, over to right-back. Having a number of players who can competently play at multiple positions is a nice problem to have.
Here’s a look at this week’s team.
Race for the Roster: Week 39 (4-4-2)
Forwards
STARTERS: Jonathan David (Juventus) and Cyle Larin (Southampton, on loan from Mallorca)
BENCH: Daniel Jebbison (Preston North End, on loan from Bournemouth), Tani Oluwaseyi (Villarreal) and Marcelo Flores (Tigres)
Midfield and Defenders
STARTING MIDFIELDERS: Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Ismaël Koné (Sassuolo), Stephen Eustaquio (Los Angeles FC, on loan from Porto) INJ and Tajon Buchanan (Villarreal)
BENCH: Jacob Shaffelburg (Los Angeles), Liam Millar (Hull City), Nathan Saliba (Anderlecht), Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC) Mathieu Choiniere (Los Angeles FC) and Ali Ahmed (Norwich City)
STARTING DEFENDERS: Richie Laryea (Toronto FC), Derek Cornelius (Rangers, on loan from Marseille), Moise Bombito (Nice) INJ and Alistair Johnston (Celtic) INJ
BENCH: Niko Sigur (Hajduk Split), Alfie Jones (Middlesbrough) INJ, Joel Waterman (Chicago Fire) and Luc de Fougerolles (Dender, on loan from Fulham)
Goalkeeper
STARTER: Dayne St. Clair (Inter Miami)
BENCH: Maxime Crepeau (Orlando City) and Owen Goodman (Huddersfield Town, on loan from Crystal Palace)
