GOLD CUP PREVIEW: CanMNT open pivotal tournament on home soil vs. Honduras
The Canadian men's national team's quest to lift a continental trophy continues Tuesday night in Vancouver, where they'll kick off their 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup group stage against Honduras (10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT).
Canada begin the tournament as serious contenders to win the whole thing for the first time since 2000, but there's a lot riding on this Group B opener, especially with it being played on home soil at BC Place.
These two sides are arguably the strongest two in the group, so a result for either on Tuesday could go a long way toward topping the table. Group B is matched up with Group C in the quarter-final draw, which means the group winner will take on the second-best of Panama, Jamaica, Guatemala and Guadeloupe.
After a broadly successful pair of games in Toronto at the Canadian Shield, Canada will come into the Gold Cup confident, but feeling some internal pressure to perform. This tournament will be Canada's final opportunity to play competitive matches before the 2026 World Cup, and for Jesse Marsch it's imperative to establish a competitive mindset in order to become familiar with winning games in a tournament setting.
"There's been some people saying we have the best team, or we're favourites [at the Gold Cup]," Marsch said on Monday. "None of that really matters right now. What matters right now is our focus on this match against Honduras. If we were to look back at all our matches since we've been together, I think why we've had some successes are because our concentration and focus and detail to what each opponent required, what each tournament required, moment required, all of those have been really good. We can talk about grander visions, but right now we're solely focused on this match."
Marsch won't have an entirely full-strength squad to call on; Alphonso Davies is still out with his ACL injury, and Sam Adekugbe's Achilles tear likewise puts him out of action. Stephen Eustáquio is away with FC Porto at the Club World Cup and won't be able to play until late in this tournament. Meanwhile, both Alistair Johnston and Ismaël Koné were delayed arriving at Canada's camp in Vancouver, so are unlikely to start against Honduras.
So, Marsch has tough lineup decisions to make at the fullback and midfield spots. With Adekugbe and Johnston out, it's possible that Richie Laryea moves over to play left-back, since Niko Sigur proved capable of starting at right-back against Ukraine. In midfield, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Marsch turn once again to Nathan Saliba, who was likewise outstanding against Ukraine. Mathieu Choinière should be a candidate to start next to Saliba in the middle, particularly for his set-piece delivery. He instantly improved Canada's midfield when he came into the game against Côte d'Ivoire, and would be an asset against a direct, athletic Honduran side.
Up front, there's speculation around how much of a role Jonathan David will play given his current situation as he navigates the club transfer market, but he is Canada's captain at this tournament and is likely to play a role in every game. As for who plays alongside him, the popular candidate seems to be Promise David, who scored against Ukraine and might be the eventual starter at the World Cup, though Cyle Larin is the more typical option in these scenarios.
"Whatever strike partner I play with, my role stays more or less the same," Jonathan David told media on Monday. "It's mostly about the connections we have together, the understanding of our movements and to make sure we're not getting in each other's spaces, to have that balance."
Honduras present a threat as usual to Canada, and they've been busy over the past week with their World Cup Qualifying campaign. They were a little frustrated in their two matches last week, a 1-0 win over Cayman Islands and a 2-0 win against Antigua and Barbuda; in both games, they could've scored much more. With 60 total shots between the two games (20 on target), it was disappointing not to find the net more than three times.
Back in November, Honduras took on Mexico in a two-legged Nations League quarter-final, and they made life difficult for El Tri. The Hondurans won the first leg 2-0, eventually succumbing to a slew of late goals to lose the aggregate tie 4-2.
They had a disappointing 2023 Gold Cup, where they finished behind Qatar to exit at the group stage. They're in solid position to qualify for the World Cup, but could really use a confidence-boosting performance against Canada.
Many familiar faces will make up the Honduran lineup, including a front line of Al-Arabi's Romell Quioto and Santos Laguna striker Anthony Lozano, both of whom have been troublesome for Canada to defend previously. They'll also likely roll out a midfield duo of Toronto FC's Deiby Flores and Real Zaragoza's Kervin Arriaga, which is another familiar challenge to the Canadians.
Last time Canada played Honduras was the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League, where the Canadians won 4-1 at BMO Field to qualify for the quarter-finals. Larin scored twice in the first 11 minutes, as Les Rouges sailed to a comfortable victory at home.
This Gold Cup is a tournament Canada are desperate to win, but the first step to doing that is making good use of their lone match on Canadian soil. It'll be a tough one at BC Place, but Marsch and co. have no shortage of confidence.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Canada: St. Clair; Sigur, De Fougerolles, Cornelius, Laryea; Buchanan, Saliba, Choinière, Shaffelburg; P. David, J. David
Honduras: Menjivar; Martínez, Montes, Maldonado, Rosales; Arriaga, Flores; Palma, López, Quioto; Lozano
ALL-TIME SERIES
Canada wins: 9 || Honduras wins: 12 || Draws: 7
Last meeting:
March 28, 2023 -- Canada 4-1 Honduras (Concacaf Nations League)
KEY QUOTES
"It's a team that's very aggressive. I expect them to defend really hard, to be compact, not let the game get too open. We've used their two games against Mexico as a bit of a reference point, and what you saw in November is they didn't give Mexico a lot of space; they made it difficult on them, they were very physical, especially along their backline, and they were very dangerous on the counter. I think it's possible they choose to press us a little bit from the beginning, but they will be very stingy defensively and looking to get us on the counter." -- Canada head coach Jesse Marsch
"For me, I don't think we come in as favourites. I think to be favourites in a tournament then you have to be the one that won it the most times. Of course we have a strong team, and we can challenge for sure to win it, but to be favourites is something I wouldn't say personally." -- Canada forward Jonathan David
