John Herdman names CanMNT squad for Concacaf Nations League finals

Canada NT

Canada Soccer have announced their Men’s National Team squad for the upcoming 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League Finals in Las Vegas, Nevada. Canada will face Panama in the first Semi-final match on Wednesday 15 June with the winner advancing to the Final on Sunday 18 June against the winner of the second Semi-final match between Mexico and USA.

The Concacaf Nations League Finals is the first of two continental trophies for which the Men’s National Team will compete this summer followed by the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup set to kick off later this month. Canada qualified for the Concacaf Nations League Finals after finishing top of its League A Group, following a pair of strong performances in the recent March window: a 2:0 away win over to Curaçao and a 4:0 home win over Honduras in Toronto.

“This is an experienced group of players with a hunger to win silverware for Canada,” said John Herdman, Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach. “We know we have a big opportunity in front of us to lift a trophy, but we also know it’s going to be difficult and we are relishing that challenge.”

CANADA’S SQUAD
Canada’s 23-man squad for the Concacaf Nations League Finals features footballers from professional clubs in 14 different countries. The squad features 19 players from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 including recent Canada Soccer Players of the Year Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David as well as six-time Player of the Year Atiba Hutchinson.

Canada’s three goalkeepers are Milan Borjan of Red Star Belgrade, Dayne St. Clair of Minnesota United FC, and Tom McGill of Brighton & Hove Albion. Borjan recently won his sixth-consecutive Serbian SuperLiga title with Red Star Belgrade.

At the back, Canada have centre backs Derek Cornelius of Malmö FF, Scott Kennedy of SSV Jahn Regensburg, Kamal Miller of CF Inter Miami, Steven Vitória of GD Chaves, and Dominick Zator of Korona Kielce as well as outside fullbacks Samuel Adekugbe of Galatasaray SK, Alistair Johnston of Celtic FC, and Richie Laryea of Toronto FC. Adekugbe recently won the Turkish Süper Lig with Galatasaray SK while Johnston won the Scottish Premiership with Celtic FC.

From the midfield up through to the attack, Canada have Hutchinson from Beşiktaş JK, David from Lille OSC, Davies from FC Bayern Munich, Tajon Buchanan from Club Brugge KV, Lucas Cavallini from Club Tijuana Xolos, Stephen Eustáquio from FC Porto, Junior Hoilett from Reading FC, Ismaël Koné from Watford FC, Cyle Larin from Real Valladolid CF, Victor Loturi of Ross County FC, Jonathan Osorio from Toronto FC, and David Wotherspoon from St. Johnstone FC. From the 2022-23 season, Davies won his fifth-straight Bundesliga title with FC Bayern while David broke his own Canadian record for most goals in a top-5 men’s European league (24 goals in 37 matches).

CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE FINALS
The second edition of the Concacaf Nations League Finals is being played amongst the four League A group winners: Mexico (Group A); Panama (Group B); Canada (Group C); and USA (Group D). The Semi-finals, Match for Third Place and Concacaf Final will all and will all be played at Allegiant Stadium. The Canada v Panama Semi-final match will kick off at 16.00 local (19.00 ET / 16.00 PT).

Both of Canada’s Concacaf Nations League Finals matches will be broadcast live on OneSoccer, available as a linear channel on Telus’ Optik TV (Channel 980), on the fuboTV Canada platform as well as online at OneSoccer.ca, and through the OneSoccer app. Fans will find extended coverage for the matches across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube featuring the hashtag #CANMNT.

The matchups for the Semi-finals were determined based on the Group Stage performance, with the highest-ranked team facing the lowest-ranked team. The Semi-finals will be followed by a Match for Third Place and Concacaf Final on Sunday 18 June. The Final will crown the Concacaf Nations League second champion after the United States won the inaugural edition in 2021.

Canada holds an all-time record of four wins, six draws and two losses against Panama, with the two nations each winning their respective home match in the recent FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Canada defeated Panama 4:1 in Toronto in October 2021, while Panama won 1:0 in the most recent meeting in the last match of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in Panama City just four days after Canada had already secured qualification to Qatar 2022.

CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team are the reigning Kings of Concacaf, having finished first overall in the Concacaf Final Round of FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers from September 2021 to March 2022. It marked the third time that Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team won a Concacaf title, having previously won the 1985 Concacaf Championship and the 2000 Concacaf Gold Cup.

Across FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers, Canada posted 14 wins, four draws and just two losses over three rounds as they became the first nation from the region to qualify for Qatar with a 4:0 home win on 27 March 2022 in Toronto. Canada scored a Men’s National Team record 54 goals across the cycle while Cyle Larin set the Canadian record for goals (13), Alphonso Davies set the Canadian record for assists (eight), and Milan Borjan set the Canadian record for clean sheets (nine). Of note, both Larin (13) and Jonathan David (nine) were the top-two goalscorers across all Concacaf nations in 2021-22 FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers.

In the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League Group play Canada had a record of three wins and one loss, earning nine points to top Group C (+8 goal differential). Canada’s campaign featured home and away wins over Curacao, and a home win over Honduras, with its only loss coming away to Honduras in poor pitch conditions in June of 2022.