Marsch: 'No question' Canada's World Cup player pool the best in team history

With many top-flight football leagues kicking off their seasons last weekend, the ramp up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup has officially begun with players from across the globe looking to secure their national team spots with under eight months to go until the tournament officially begins.

Canada, one of three host countries alongside Mexico and the United States, is looking to build upon their group stage exit at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, their first time qualifying for the tournament since 1986.

Les Rouges were welcomed back to World Cup play with three losses in as many matches, coming against Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco in Group F play.

This time around, Canada was given automatic qualification as hosts of the tournament and are hoping for better results on home soil with head coach Jesse Marsch at the helm.

“There’s no question this is the best player pool in the history of the Canadian national team,” said Marsch on TSN 1050’s OverDrive Wednesday. “The timing couldn’t be better obviously with the World Cup around the corner. It’s a pleasure to watch these guys.

“They’re all playing at big clubs, they’re all being challenged in big ways which I think is a big part in developing as a person and as a player…being put in an environment that is very, very challenging and where the levels are very, very high.”

There have been a number of Canadians on the national team that have made summer moves to big clubs across Europe. Top striker Jonathan David joined Serie A giants Juventus on a free transfer, Tajon Buchanan completed his move to Spain’s Villarreal, Ismael Kone was loaned to Italian club Sassulo, and Nathan Saliba transferred to Anderlecht in Belgium.

Even more player movement could be on the way before the transfer window closes with Tani Oluwaseyi reportedly being linked to Villarreal and Cyle Larin still seeking his exit from Spanish side Mallorca.

“They’re gathering confidence, they’re gathering savviness and intelligence,” Marsch said. “They understand now what world football really looks like and what is required to be successful on the biggest stages.

“All of these things are clearly going to be massively helpful for us once we get to next summer and we get to play in the World Cup at home.”

Canada is coming off a disappointing quarterfinal exit in the CONCACAF Gold Cup over the summer, an experience Marsch hopes his side can learn from ahead in the lead up to the home World Cup.

After finishing first in Group B with seven points from three games, they fell to Guatemala on penalties in the first stage of the knockout rounds.

“We were massively disappointed by the Gold Cup in general because we had big hopes,” Marsch said when reflecting on the tournament. “But I also knew that the makeup of the team was that we were challenging more players to start to integrate themselves into the group, and without some big leaders like Alphonso Davies, like Steph Eustaquio, like Moise Bombito, there was also some onus on other players to step up and take things over. A lot of them did.”

“It would have been great to win a Cup and build confidence into the group in all ways about what we can achieve next summer, but it was also a little bit of a reality check for me to know that if we don’t show up on any given day, you can get punished by anybody.”

As Marsch points out, Canada was without national team captain Alphonso Davies, among others, who remains sidelined for club and country following surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Born in Buduburam, Ghana but raised in Edmonton, Davies was injured in Canada’s Nations league third-place match against the United States this past March. The Bayern Munich man missed the remainder of the Bundesliga campaign following the injury, also sitting out the Club World Cup in the United States over the summer.

“Things are going well for [Davies] and that doesn’t surprise me because he’s just such a physical specimen,” Marsch said on his skipper. “It was obviously devastating for all of us when he got injured, but he’s about five months into his recovery now. He’s starting to run on the pitch, he’s feeling really good with everything, all of the responses, and all of the measurements, and all of the scans have gone really well.

“Hopefully he’ll be back in training in the next month, month and a half. We’re kind of looking forward to November as the time that he can be back with us and be back on the pitch with Bayern, as well.”

Barring a setback in his recovery, Davies is set for an integral role for Canada this summer. In 58 career appearances for the senior team, the speedy fullback has netted 16 goals while adding 17 assists.

Marsch will be tasked with leading the national team in, perhaps, the most anticipated international tournament in the history of the Canadian Soccer Association.

This edition of the roster figures to be the most talented men’s squad the country has ever fielded, but expectations are higher at this World Cup as Canada looks to advance past the group stages for the first time in their  tournament history.

“I’m an American coaching the Canadian national team. They’re Canadians, not me. It’s their team. I’m just here to help them be at their best, and the more that they can really understand what it is to be in the big moments, how to take things over, how to handle the toughest moments, then that will help us dictate exactly how successful we can be.

“They’re in for it, they’re up for it, they love it. They love playing for the Canadian national team, they’re incredibly patriotic and they understand how important this moment in time is. It’s really a pleasure to be their coach.”