‘Electric’ Canada had a 2024 to remember – is there more progress to come?

One year ago, it would have been almost impossible to sanely predict where Canada’s men’s national team currently stands.

December 2023: Canada were languishing after an untimely quarterfinal exit from the Nations League. Qualification for Copa America remained a question mark.

They had an interim head coach. Their roster was too heavy on aging holdovers. They had lost the momentum they built through the 2022 World Cup thanks to poorly handled CBA negotiations and continued losses.

And big picture, Canada Soccer was without clear direction and leadership. They were saddled with questions about when a full-time replacement would be hired and if they’d be capable of finding the right person.

Considering where Canada was, their turnaround in 2024 must be considered among the most stunning in the international game this year.

Canada hired Jesse Marsch for his first national team head coaching job. Despite reservations about whether a Red Bull-inspired approach could work at the international level, Marsch’s hire has turned the tide. Canada stunned the soccer world with a run to the Copa America third-place game. New faces, such as Moise Bombito and Jacob Shaffelburg, emerged as game-breaking fan favourites. Canada played 14 total matches this year and lost just three. Two of those losses came against World Cup holders Argentina. They finished 2024 ranked 31st in the world by FIFA, their highest ranking ever.

More and more, this team looks like an electric one capable of continually surprising onlookers when they co-host the World Cup in 2026.

To celebrate the year, let’s take a look back at some of their best moments, with input from Marsch himself.

Best moment

The three seconds leading up to, during, and then following Ismael Kone’s winning penalty to send Canada through to the Copa America semifinals: Jonathan David saw Kone looking confident and suggested Marsch give Kone a kick. Kone himself showed zero nerves when cooly smashing home his penalty. And Marsch then cracks a grin but hardly celebrates as wildly as you might expect for a coach who just pushed his team to new heights.

Add it up and Canada’s decisive Copa America quarterfinal win over Venezuela shows how much things have changed within the Canadian program: grinding games that go to penalties against more experienced teams from outside CONCACAF? Those are games the Canada of the past would lose.

Kone has been a cool customer for the Canadian team (Dan Hamilton / USA TODAY Sports)

But this team believe they deserve a spot among the world’s best. Advancing to the Copa America semifinal in the most dramatic of ways backs their case.

“The Venezuela game was the first time I said to the staff on the bench, ‘OK, now (the team) gets it,” Marsch said.

Worst moment

It was a year full of positives, so finding a low point feels like an exercise in pedanticism. Kone and Alphonso Davies not converting their penalties and Canada losing to Uruguay in the Copa America third-place match feels like nit-picking considering how much progress they made in a short amount of time.

“There weren’t that many tough moments. The second half of the game against Holland was a challenge for us, but also necessary,” Marsch said of his first game in charge. The 4-0 loss to the Netherlands displayed how difficult it might be for players to adapt to Marsch’s high-tempo style. The visitors in Rotterdam looked physically spent come the second half when they allowed all four goals.

But that’s not our pick: it’s Tajon Buchanan breaking his tibia in a gruesome injury during a Copa America training session. Buchanan would miss the next four months.

“All you think is ‘Why me?’” Buchanan told The Athletic.

The winger was arguably Canada’s best player at the 2022 World Cup. Copa America’s knockout round felt like a ripe time for Buchanan to solidify himself as a household name in Canada. He’s just as much of a gamebreaker as Davies and David. Not seeing him against Uruguay meant we couldn’t see a true representation of what this Canada side is capable of.

Best game

After losing to the Netherlands, Marsch’s second game three days later showed that, well, it might not be that difficult at all for Canada to buy in.

Spare me the qualifiers about France not fielding their absolute best lineup and Kylian Mbappe only coming on late in the second half: Canada holding 2022 World Cup finalists France to a 0-0 friendly draw in Bordeaux less than a month after Marsch was hired was a titanic achievement.

Even Kylian Mbappe could not help France break down Canada in a summer friendly (Romain Perrocheau / AFP via Getty Images)

Wins over Venezuela, Peru and the United States presented better results, sure. But the draw with France must be framed through a different lens. Canada has previously shown they could best CONCACAF sides. But they want to play against and be considered among the class of teams France hangs out in: world-class. That’s why this draw was Marsch’s most impressive result.

Marsch eased off on his fifth-gear press and got his team to press strategically. That showed tactical flexibility. Marsch had wanted his team to become more physically imposing against top sides. Canada were the aggressors, winning more tackles and a higher percentage of ground duels compared to France.

But it was a clear mentality shift that still resonates from the draw: Canada quickly rebounded from a loss days earlier and the moment didn’t seem too weighty. By going punch for punch with France, Canada became hardened for arguably their most impressive year to follow in the program’s history.

Best player

Marsch’s vote is Jonathan David, which you can’t go wrong with.

But for us, let’s start by flashing back to Canada’s 2022 World Cup opener against Belgium. Steven Vitoria and Kamal Miller anchor Canada’s back four.

As a long ball from deep in Belgium’s own half comes toward Michy Batshuayi, neither Vitoria nor Miller have the foot speed to catch the Belgium forward. He splits them in half and fires home Belgium’s only goal. Canada was immediately behind the 8 ball in the World Cup.

How much different would things have been had Canada had Moise Bombito’s blazing speed and physicality to shut down opposition forwards, as he did repeatedly throughout 2024?

Would Bombito have snuffed out the Batshuayi chance, and would Canada perhaps gotten out of their first game 0-0 and earned a valuable point? Would Canada then have played a little more conservatively against Croatia in the hopes of a draw, and then put the pedal to the floor against a Morocco team who were already through in the third game? What would we be saying about Canada’s World Cup, instead of calling it a disappointment?

Allowing just one goal can change the course of a tournament. And with Bombito, the chances of Canada allowing that goal are reduced. Bombito’s outlandish pace makes him the kind of prototypical centre-back Canada have long lacked. Bombito’s relentless effort, smarts and world-class physicality often made him Canada’s best player through 2024, his first full year in the program. He completed a move to Ligue 1 side Nice after Copa America.

Moise Bombito showed himself capable of challenging the best (Omar Vega / Getty Images)

“(Bombito’s) talent is among the best in the world (at centre-back),” Marsch told reporters after Canada’s 2-1 friendly win over Panama in October. “I’ve coached players that are considered the best in that position, and their talent levels, their raw skills and abilities, are on the same level.”

And so when considering the razor-thin margins, having a centre-back who is emerging into world-class territory can be the difference between getting your first World Cup points and leaving empty-handed.

The stat that sums up 2024

2.8 million. According to Bell Media, the Copa America rights-holders in Canada, that’s the average TV audience for Canada’s semifinal against Argentina. Those numbers came after a dismal 2023 that the entire program would like to forget. It became the most-watched Copa America game on record in Canada.

Yet that those TV numbers pushed up against the numbers Canada drew for their 2022 World Cup matches suggests public interest isn’t a flash in the pan. The national team mattered to Canadians again. Canada Soccer is constantly fighting for eyeballs in a sporting landscape that features a behemoth with an iron grip on the country’s popular conscience: hockey.

Sidney Crosby, arguably the most popular Canadian hockey player today, literally joined in on Canada’s locker room celebrations after their win over Venezuela. Talk about bridging the gap.

Copa America is the last major tournament before the World Cup. Had Canada’s stirring run not resonated, the concern from within the federation over how the Canadian public would react in two summers would have been amplified.

Instead, momentum around the World Cup in a country long thought to be focused on hockey and hockey alone is rising with the tide of the national team itself.

Favourite quote

It was well over an hour after Canada earned their first Copa America win over Peru in the second match. I was literally the only Canadian print reporter standing in the mixed zone, chatting with players as they made their way to the bus.

Canada’s fate for the knockout round was still TBD. They needed a result against an experienced Chile side in their final game — which I wouldn’t be attending — to get to the quarterfinal against all odds at AT&T Stadium.

One of the last players through the mixed zone was goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, who put forth another heroic effort in exacerbating midday heat. Crepeau, and the rest of the team, had every reason to be mentally drained.

Canada were in a tournament they’d never played in. They could be forgiven for just being happy to be invited to the dance. Not getting past Chile seemed entirely possible.

“OK, see you when I see you,” I said to Crepeau, harmlessly, as he left. “No,” he said, essentially predicting a result, “See you in Dallas.”

For the first time maybe ever, Marsch had a Canadian side not thinking and acting like stereotypically reserved and polite Canadians. Canada’s 2024 should be remembered in part for their braggadocio, and how far that could take them.

Did that really happen?

We’re not getting through a review of Canada’s year without unpacking the buzz that followed the program overhead: the men’s national team’s (possible) use of drones before this year.

But the question that’s become alarmingly clear to me in the wake of the scandal is a slight alteration of the question above: did that really have to happen?

When John Herdman took over the men’s national team in 2018, he was taking over the greatest collection of young talent in the program’s history. What does Herdman’s possible use of drones to gain a competitive advantage say about his coaching acumen? How could a coach with that kind of talent in front of him possibly feel the need to resort to spying on low-ranking CONCACAF sides?

John Herdman has struggled to shake off links to the Canada drone scandal (Omar Vega / Getty Images)

How could so many people within the federation accept this kind of behaviour? How was so much power able to go unchecked?

Herdman will forever deserve credit for changing the way the Canadian team thought about themselves and whether they belong among CONCACAF’s best. But for just as long, I’ll never understand why someone was given some of the fanciest toys on the block and might have felt paranoid about the three-speed bike a few doors down.

Player to watch in 2025

There is no shortage of players whose futures could change in 2025 and the men’s national team could be impacted. What could a summer move to a bigger club mean for Jonathan David’s role with Canada? If Alphonso Davies stays at Bayern, does he take on more of a leadership role and will that benefit him as Canada captain? The starting goalkeeper battle looks like an ongoing one: could a strong 2025 MLS campaign put Dayne St. Clair in the driver’s seat?

Even Marsch went off board to vote for midfielders Nathan Saliba and Niko Sigur.

“Sigur has the quality and flexiblity to play a lot of positions. And Saliba has shown the most improvement of anyone from day one. It’s crazy I didn’t put him in the Suriname squad. He’s going to emerge as a really important player,” Marsch said.

But for us, it’s still a different man in the middle: Ismael Kone.

Since a highly-anticipated summer move to Ligue 1 side Marseille in France, the central midfielder suffered an ankle injury out of the gate and has failed to solidify a starting role in Roberto De Zerbi’s midfield.

“He can do better. He has made very little use of his talents. He needs a mental breakthrough, otherwise his potential won’t be fulfilled,” De Zerbi said of Kone in November.

What matters to Marsch is having his top players log consistent minutes at their clubs. If Kone can’t do that, is his place in Canada’s starting lineup assured?

Kone’s Copa America campaign didn’t go as smoothly as anyone inside the team hoped. Inside the national team, Marsch and his coaching staff are still figuring out how to get the most out of Kone. Yet the flip side here is that the coaching staff also view Kone’s ceiling as sky-high. His smooth dribbling abilities, passing quality and coolness under pressing make Kone a lynchpin for a team that wants to play in transition.

Marsch can’t rely solely on his speed on the flanks in his attack. Canada will become far too easy to defend against if that’s the case.

He needs Kone for a strong 2025 and beyond. And Kone needs to be playing far more than he has been.

A wish for 2025

Games against teams outside CONCACAF. That Canada’s opponents in the last three international windows, including two filled with friendlies, were only from CONCACAF is an unfortunate by-product of a lack of World Cup qualifying. But the sooner a trusted new leadership group spearheaded by Kevin Blue can learn from that and find more challenging opponents, the better.

Canada sit atop the region’s power rankings right now. Perhaps the Nations League Finals change the conversation. But with 2026 a little over a year and a half away, Canada need to start preparing for the kind of opponents they’ll face on home soil at the World Cup.

We’re talking about more of the kind of feisty South American opponents they played at Copa America, but with more high-end players like Colombia or Brazil. Or preparing for the kind of wild cards that come in World Cup draws, like Ghana or Australia.

And a return to Europe to see the kind of elite tactical brains they’ll have to maneuver through eventually.

(Top photo: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)