2026 WORLD CUP GROUP B PREVIEW: Canada
Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Alexandre Gangue-Ruzic is previewing all of the teams in Group B. Here's a look at Canada.
The lowdown:
FIFA Ranking: #30
Elo Ranking: #25
Head coach: Jesse Marsch
Number of World Cups: 3 (1986, 2022, 2026)
Best World Cup result: Group Stage (1986, 2022)
After years spent in the darkness, Canada have become a team to take note of at the international stage, and are eager to prove their credentials this summer.
When they were first announced as World Cup co-hosts back in 2018, this tournament was hoped to be a coming-out party for Canada as a football nation. In a sense, it still will be, but after their impressive rise in the last World Cup cycle, one that saw them snap a 36-year drought to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, the objectives have shifted for them.
In 2022, Canada proved that they can play at the top level, even if they were unable to grab a win or even a point. Now, they want to prove that they’ve got some staying power at this level and to show off the fruits of their hard work, becoming a regular at this tournament for decades to come.
How they got here:
As co-hosts, Canada got to skip World Cup qualifying, which shows why reaching the 2022 tournament was so important for them.
Had they failed to do that, many would’ve questioned their credentials heading into this tournament, but by qualifying for that 32-team World Cup in 2022, Canada showed that they would’ve likely made it to this tournament without co-hosting privileges, especially in an expanded 48-team format.
Of course, with no qualifying matches to play, Canada has spent most of the past cycle playing a mix of international friendlies and competitive matches within Concacaf.
In Concacaf, they struggled a bit relative to the new expectations they set for themselves, as they bowed out in the quarter-finals of both the 2023 and 2025 Gold Cup - meanwhile, in the Concacaf Nations League, a second-place finish in 2022-2023 and a third-place finish in 2024-2025 sandwiched a disappointing quarter-final exit in 2023-2024. For a team that wanted to win a trophy this cycle, having last done so at the 2000 Gold Cup, those losses will hurt.
Meanwhile, in friendlies, Canada fared a lot better as a 4-2 win vs. Ukraine, a 2-1 win vs. the United States, a 3-0 win vs. Romania, and a 1-0 win vs. Wales, along with 0-0 draws vs. France, Ecuador and Colombia, stand out as their best results.
And, of course, you can’t forget the best tournament performance Canada had this last cycle, which came at the 2024 Copa América, where they were one of six Concacaf teams that qualified for the tournament as guest nations. After only narrowly qualifying for the tournament in the first place, Canada then made a shock run to the semi-finals, finishing fourth - meanwhile, four of the six other Concacaf teams failed to make it out of the group stage, including Mexico and the United States, and the team that did make it to the quarter-finals, Panama, lost 5-0 to Colombia in that quarter-final matchup.
What this all shows, though, is that Canada used this chance to skip out on qualifying quite well, as they’ve now proven capable of competing against top-calibre opponents, something they didn’t get the chance to do before the 2022 World Cup - which is why that tournament felt like a reality check of sorts for this Canadian side.
How they’ll play:
Preferred formation: 4-2-2-2
Ever since head coach Jesse Marsch took over in 2024, this Canadian team has found a clear identity, which is to be a high-pressing team that employs an aggressive style of play on both sides of the ball.
A coach that comes from the Red-Bull school of thought, Marsch has proven to be a good fit for this Canadian team, one that is known for their athleticism and physicality, using that to their advantage in 2022 World Cup qualifying. Immediately, this Canadian team has looked at home in a typical Red-Bull 4-2-2-2 pressing system, one that squeezes opposing teams high up the pitch.
Because of that, Canada will look to press teams high, as reflected by the fact that they’ve got a PPDA (passes per defensive action) of 9.18 across the 14 games they’ve played since the start of the 2025 Gold Cup, which indicates their pressing prowess. When their pressing game, which is sometimes known as “Maplepressing,” takes hold, they do a great job of forcing opponents into mistakes and long balls, which is exactly what this Canadian team wants.
As a result, their defensive metrics are quite good, as they’ve conceded just six goals across their last 14 games, conceding only 6.07 shots and 0.85 xG per game. That’s not to say that they’re perfect defensively, as they can be prone to big defensive breakdowns, which is why opponents have averaged over 0.15 per shot against them - but given the overall defensive numbers they have, that’s a trade-off they’ll live with.
Where Canada has struggled is offensively. Across those 14 games, they’ve scored 21 goals, with six of those coming against a hapless Honduras side and three against a Romania team that failed to qualify for the World Cup - otherwise, Canada has scored one or fewer goals in eight of those 14 games.
They’re generating a decent number of chances, averaging 1.41 xG and 10.79 shots per 90, but they’ll know they can and should be a lot more dangerous offensively given some of the personnel they have.
Because of that, a big question for Canada is whether or not they’ll shake up their attack at this tournament, as Marsch has been hesitant to experiment both with his tactical set-up and the players within that set-up, even despite these recent struggles.
Otherwise, one thing that stands out is that Canada has generated shots on just 19.2% of their corners and 16% of their free kicks - in a group where everyone seems to be good at set-pieces, that’s a bit of a worry.
Players to watch:
Canada’s done well to build a younger squad over the last cycle, as they enter this tournament with nine players 25 or younger, and just five players over 30 (and four of those players are between the ages of 30 and 32). In fact, they enter this tournament as a side very much in prime condition to compete, as 12 players are between the ages of 25 and 28, which is exactly what you want to see from a team co-hosting the tournament.
In terms of the composition of their squad, Canada has nine players who are contracted to sides who were in the top five leagues last year, which along with the players they have in Belgium, Scotland and the English Championship, gives them an impressive European contingent to lean on. At the same time, they also rely heavily on the influence of Canadian MLS players, as eight of their players are contracted to MLS sides (and a ninth, Stephen Eustáquio, just completed a loan with MLS side LAFC).
As for the squad itself, Maxime Crépeau will be the team’s starting goalkeeper, which is a huge achievement for him after missing the 2022 World Cup with a broken leg. With 32 caps under his belt, he’ll look to build on the heroics he had at the 2024 Copa América, where he was one of the competition’s best goalkeepers, and showed his ability to rise to the big moment.
At the back, captain Alphonso Davies is the main man to watch, although he enters this tournament in a race against time as he returns from a muscle injury. After an injury-riddled last 15 months that started with an ACL tear in March of 2025, Canada will hope that the Bayern Munich left back can play some sort of part in this tournament, as his experience as a Champions League winner will be invaluable for this team - he’s their best player, for a reason.
In midfield, this summer feels like Ismaël Koné’s time to shine, especially after an impressive stint at the 2022 World Cup as Canada’s youngest player in that tournament. Despite now having 40 caps to his name, he’s still the sixth-youngest player in this squad, which serves as a reminder of why the last few years of development have been so crucial to him, as he’s found a lot of maturity in his game. Coming off an excellent club season with US Sassuolo, where he scored six goals in 36 appearances, he’s expected to play a huge role in Canada’s midfield, where Marsch will push him to dominate games.
Lastly, up front, pressure will be on Jonathan David, who is Canada’s Men’s National Team’s all-time top scorer with 39 goals in 77 caps. After a trying first season with Juventus, where he only scored eight goals in 46 appearances, the former Lille OSC standout will hope to have a strong World Cup, especially after failing to score in the 2022 tournament - even if he enters this World Cup in a bit of a slump for Canada, a reflection of Canada’s current goalscoring woes. 
Tournament expectations:
You can see the strange place Canada finds themselves in as a team when laying down their expectations for this tournament.
On one hand, given that they’ve never won a World Cup game, having failed in the first six attempts to do so in 1986 and 2022, just getting that first win feels like a big objective for them at this tournament.
At the same time, given how much they’ve grown as a side in recent years, their status as World Cup co-hosts, and the group they’ve been drawn into, Canada can very much dream of a run to the knockout stages - and perhaps even beyond that.
Because of that, Canada will have to dare to dream this summer, as there is no reason why a run to the Round of 16 can’t be on the table for them, even if reaching the knockout stage feels like the bare minimum.
One big question:
Can Canada score enough goals to make a run?
It’s been a bit of a theme for Canada in tournament play - they struggle to score, especially in these bigger tournaments (they scored just twice in three World Cup games in 2022 and only scored four goals at the 2024 Copa América). For a team in poor goalscoring form at the moment, finding a way to get their offence going is a big priority, especially given that they’ve been pretty good defensively.
Figuring out that goalscoring could be the difference between a meek group stage exit and a run to the Round of 16, which shows why it’s such an important area of emphasis for this Canadian side heading into this tournament.
