Being a World Cup host came with party favours never before afforded to Canada's men's national soccer team. For the first time in history, they qualified for the tournament not through their play but via the perk of being one of the three host nations in the global spectacle that got under way on Thursday in Mexico City.
Then came another FIFA gift: An expanded format that has Canada settled in a relatively lightweight Group B seemingly made for them to advance to the Round of 32. The magnitude of the moment prior to Friday's 3 p.m. ET kickoff down by the Toronto waterfront surely will be emotional for the 26 men on the Canadian roster and their American coach, Jesse Marsch. The patriotic scene sure to unfold at Toronto Stadium would have appeared in only their wildest of dreams: A home World Cup with a captivated national audience ready to go all-in on the sport.
After that first kick in Match 3 of the quadrennial event, what figures to be a physical tussle with Bosnia and Herzegovina, reality will hit with force for the Canadian squad. For now, Canada are undaunted.
Marsch's Confidence
“We’re ready to play some big games,” Marsch said at the team’s pre-match press conference at the CNE grounds on Thursday, steps away from Toronto Stadium where it will all go down. “We’re ready to make our country proud. We’re ready to go after this. We’re aware of the World Cup and aware of it being at home and everything going on in the country. We’re excited. But we want to really represent Canada in the right ways. I think we’re really focussed on making sure we’re ready to perform.”
Marsch leads you to the critical point of Friday’s spectacle. For all the hoopla and well-placed emotion in the hours leading up to the ceremonial opener — the biggest soccer match to be played in this country — it is critical that the Canadians get off to a strong start. They regret what happened in Qatar four years ago, a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Belgium in the first match that made the rest of the mountain too difficult to scale. This may be a softer group than the Canadians faced in Qatar, but there’s already enough pressure on them without adding a dodgy start to pile it higher.
Lessons from Qatar
A poor result on Friday, in front of what is expected to be a mostly red-clad crowd of 42,000 plus, and their hopes could slide sideways. “I think the best experience we can take out of Qatar is that first game is super important,” said midfielder Stephen Eustaquio, who will act as captain in the absence of injured Alphonso Davies, ruled out for Friday’s match. “If we don’t win, that makes us pressured to win the second game, which can be very difficult. So obviously we want to start well, we want to get a win. We know that Bosnia wants the same thing. It’s going to be a very tough game.”
The Bosnians are professional at inflicting such pain. They only qualified for this World Cup with dramatic penalty kick wins over Wales and Italy in UEFA qualifying playoffs and would appear masters of the lethal touch. “We like to talk about David and Goliath … we are definitely the underdog,” colourful Bosnian coach Segej Barbarez said through a translator on Thursday. “We are the underdogs. All the world can do is see how you play and we play with our hearts. We’re playing against the host nation. It will definitely be an intense match and we want to show to the entire world in the best possible way.”
Known as a physical team which will make Canada earn its space, Barbarez had no interest discussing the style his team will employ. “There are too many Canadian journalists here and I don’t want to go team them my game plan,” Barbararez quipped.
Marsch's Vision
Marsch wasn’t going to detail his strategy either, but he was his eloquent self in discussing his hopes for the team and why he’s coaching them. When he took the job as John Herdman’s replacement in May 2024, he says he did so with Friday — and whatever comes after it — in mind. “We understand what this is,” Marsch said before a packed press conference room in the Ex’s Queen Elizabeth Building, which is the media centre for Toronto games. “If you do this for a living, this is where you want to be. I came to Canada to be the coach because I like these guys and I believed they could fit the way that I wanted to play. But I came here to lead them in the World Cup. A home World Cup. I wanted this.”
In his time overseeing the program, Marsch has embraced Canada. He takes great pleasure in seeing his players belt out O Canada prior to games and talks openly about how he believes this is the best team the country has ever fielded. Now comes the time to prove it.
