After the 2026 World Cup Draw on Friday, Canada now knows that they will take on Switzerland, Qatar, and the winner of UEFA’s Path A in Group B. Will their opponents change Steven Caldwell’s projected Starting XI?
Luke Wileman is joined by Caldwell and Kevin Kilbane to discuss the projected roster as well the impact the return of Canada captain Alphonso Davies can bring.
Luke Wileman: Welcome to the latest edition of Race for the Roster, where Steven Caldwell is given the weekly task of predicting Canada’s World Cup squad and Starting XI for the opening game.
Now, we’ve had Stevie do this segment. We’ve had Kevin Kilbane stand in for Stevie when he’s been away. But we’ve never had both of them here together, so there’s maybe fireworks and an argument on the way.
It’s finally time to see what impact the World Cup draw will have on Stevie’s projection.
Before we get to that, after what was a huge weekend in Canadian soccer, let’s take a look at the current projection. Stevie has seven locks and four spots up for grabs right now.
Here are the weekend’s headlines. The long wait to see who Canada will face at the World Cup is over as they drew Switzerland, Qatar, and the winner of UEFA Path A in Friday’s World Cup draw.
Elsewhere, Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany has said Alphonso Davies could return to play on Saturday. He’s been out over eight months after suffering an ACL injury playing for Canada in March.
Ali Ahmed scored the Vancouver Whitecaps’ lone goal in MLS Cup as the Whitecaps’ historic season fell just short against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.
Other Canadians in action this weekend: Tajon Buchanan ended an 11-game goalless drought for Villarreal, scoring his fifth of the season. That ties him for 11th in the league alongside the likes of Vinicius Junior.
Ismaël Koné found the back of the net for Sassuolo this weekend, scoring his second of the season and his first since September. He’s now started seven straight matches for his club.
That brings us to the form tracker, which is an analytical average of each player’s last five performances.
Ahmed is now the most in-form winger for Canada, while the injury situation is finally beginning to improve with the impending return of Davies.
Time and time again in recent weeks, Caldwell has said that the draw would play a significant role in determining the Starting XI of Canada for that opening game. So, now that we know Canada’s opponents, surely that means changes are needed.
Steven Caldwell: Yeah, we don’t know Canada’s opponents, though, do we? Because there’s four teams that can qualify for that, isn’t it?
Wileman: So, you’re sticking with it as it is?
Caldwell: I’m going to stick with it as it is. It’s nice to be on with Kevin, because every time he’s on Race for the Roster, he changes my team. So, at least I’m here in person this time if he wants to make any changes.
Kevin Kilbane: I still can’t believe you’ve got Alistair Johnston locked in. I still can’t believe that.
Caldwell: He’s still the best right back, isn’t he?
Kilbane: Well, I just feel as though that given the form of Niko Sigur, and how many games he’s played consecutively now, particularly playing at right back, I think he’s got to be putting more putting pressure on a lock.
Is Johnston still a lock for you?
Caldwell: Yeah, he’s still a lock, but there’s certainly pressure on him for sure. He’s been out of the lineup with Celtic because of an injury, but he’s still easily the best right back on the team. He’ll be starting as long as he’s fit.
Wileman: Davies is close to returning. The pressure on him is obviously to perform given the fact that Canada has done pretty well without him and the players that are in those positions, either the left back Richie Laryea or Ahmed further up the pitch have done well.
Caldwell: They’ve done well, but I don’t think he’ll be feeling any pressure at all. I really believe he’ll be certainly he’s starting since he’s the captain of Canada as well.
His focus will be on getting back in the Bayern Munich side and being there regularly and getting up to top speed. He’s a player that is full of confidence for obvious reasons. He plays with one of the best teams in the world.
He may be thinking: “What position am I going to be playing in?” That’s probably the only thing. He might have a say in that, because [Canada’s coach] Jesse Marsch might actually talk to Davis and come up with a position that suits him.
Does he want to be left back? Does he want to be left mid? I know we feel that Laryea has done so well at left back that he would likely start there and Davies higher forward.
But I feel like if there’s any negativity on that happening from Davies’ point of view, I don’t know if Marsch would force it.
Kilbane: No, I’m probably with you there. Listening to Marsch talking to James Duthie during the draw, Laryea is almost undroppable. So, it does suggest to me that the position that he’s going to go in will be as a left attacking player.
Wileman: Very interesting times ahead for sure as Davies gets set to return to action.
Here are the key Canadians to watch this week. Bayern Munich facing Mainz on Saturday.
Jonathan David of Juventus also looks to build on his Champions League goal last match against Pafos.
