Niko Sigur is pushing to become latest CanMNT Gold Cup breakout star: "I'm going to have more responsibility"
Over the last few years, the Gold Cup has proven to be a great platform for young and unproven players to take a big step forward with the Canadian Men’s National Team.
In 2023, Jacob Shaffelburg and Ali Ahmed were among those who stole the show for Canada, while in 2021, it was Stephen Eustáquio and Tajon Buchanan’s breakout party, with Jonathan David hitting the ground running in 2019 and Alphonso Davies in 2017, all of them vaulting into big roles with Canada off the back of those performances.
This time, as Canada gets set for the 2025 Gold Cup, they’ve got a few candidates who are looking to step up similarly at a crucial time for the program, with the 2026 World Cup rapidly approaching.
One of them is Niko Sigur, as the Canadian-Croatian dual national has already shown signs of being ready for a bigger role with the CanMNT in 2025, having found his feet in recent games with his country.
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After having undergone a bit of a learning curve following his commitment to Canada last fall, making just two appearances for a total of 39 minutes across his first three camps with the team in 2024, he’s already played 189 minutes for Canada in 2025, all coming in three straight appearances leading into the start of the Gold Cup, including his first start vs. Ukraine at the Canadian Shield in Toronto last week.
Due to some key injuries at full back, he’s been tasked with helping fill in at that position for the CanMNT, and he’s stepped up in a big way in each of those games, looking right at home in Jesse Marsch’s team.
Also able to play in midfield, a position he may also step into on this team at some point going forward, he seems to have already become a trusted piece for Marsch, and he’ll hope that allows him to shine this summer.
“I'm going to get more responsibility, more minutes, and maybe even a little bit of pressure on me, but it's nothing I'm not used to,” the 21-year-old told reporters in Vancouver on Friday, as Canada gets set for their Gold Cup opener at BC Place next week. “There are some injuries, and some guys are coming back from injury, but I know whether it’s at right back or in midfield, I'm not sure, but there's gonna be more responsibility.”
Speaking of, it must be asked - does Sigur have any preference between the two positions? He broke through at his current club, Hajduk Split, as a right back, but he’s also played in midfield for the Croatian giants, so it’s interesting to see if he’s got any preference.
When asked, though, he chuckled and gave a simple answer that put that debate to rest - he genuinely doesn’t seem to mind playing in either spot.
“I get asked this in every interview… but it's right back and midfield,” he chuckled.
Building off that, however, how does he find shuttling between positions? He’s not the first to do so, but it’s never easy to do regularly at the highest level like he has, so how has he found that transition?
“It gives you more of an opportunity to play if you can play more positions, and if the coach trusts you in those positions, you have a bit of an advantage over other players,” he offered. But at the same time, it can be difficult sometimes trying to switch your mindset into different responsibilities, but I've been doing it for a long enough time now, so it's pretty much second nature to me.”
That speaks to Sigur’s intelligence, however, which has been one of his most important assets as a player, allowing him to make 79 appearances for a club of Hajduk Split’s calibre at just 21. Opportunities like that don’t just happen for any player, but it’s a good reminder of why Croatia were hot on his tail before he committed to Canada, especially given that he made nine appearances for Croatia’s U21 team in the past - he’s a player that seems easy to coach.
That’s come in handy with Canada, where he’s had to adapt to a completely different style of play than anything he’s been used to. With Hajduk Split, he’s gotten used to playing on a team that dominates games in possession and plays more of a passive defensive block, whereas with Canada, he’s asked to play extremely aggressively on and off the ball.
In particular, that can put a lot of strain on midfielders and full backs in Canada’s system, which can make it tough for newcomers to step in at those positions, showing why it’s been so impressive to see Sigur step up the way he has.
“I mean, he’s asked a lot more from me than what I'm used to in Croatia, especially defensively,” Sigur said of Marsch’s style of play. “We sit more in a block in the Croatian League, at my team, but here he wants us to go and try to win the ball. I've been here for almost a year now, I've gotten used to that, but, of course, it can be challenging to do that, but we have a lot of good players who can help me.”
“Niko’s a clever footballer, and he's eager to continue to prove himself as a young player,” Marsch added. “I think we all know he has big potential, he's got a lot of flexibility in different positions that he can play, but he’s been very good, and he had two good performances (at the Canadian Shield), as well.”
NIKO KRISTIAN SIGUR GIVES HAJDUK THE LEAD AGAINST DINAMO!!!#HNL #HAJDZGpic.twitter.com/INhZ5N2Wck
— Croatian Football (@CroatiaFooty) December 1, 2024
As shown at the Canadian Shield, where Sigur played 67 minutes as a starter vs. Ukraine, and 45 minutes off the bench vs. Côte d’Ivoire as Canada won that friendly invitational tournament, Sigur has taken that challenge of playing more aggressively head-on, as well.
In particular, his start vs. Ukraine was quite impressive - he completed 18 out of 22 passes, including four out of six passes into the final third, two out of four long balls and one out of two crosses, while making one interception, three recoveries, one clearance and winning five out of 10 duels.
Because of that, it seems likely that Sigur will open the Gold Cup as a starter for Canada, who will get their tournament underway vs. Honduras at BC Place on Tuesday, June 17th.
No matter if he starts that game, however, or if he comes off the bench, it promises to be a special moment for him in his hometown, too. A native of nearby Burnaby, where he was born and spent most of his life, he has a strong connection to BC Place, having gone to Vancouver Whitecaps and Canada games in the past, while spending a couple of seasons in the Whitecaps academy.
Funnily enough, this game is also a full-circle moment for him in a different way, because one of the last times he was at the stadium was actually for a CanMNT match, too, as he was a ballboy for Canada’s Nations League qualifying match vs. French Guiana in 2019, when he was just 15.
Already in the Whitecaps system at the time, he knew he’d one day play at the highest level, so unlike most kids, who might’ve just enjoyed the chance to be within touching distance of their heroes for 90 minutes, he spent that game studying the pace of play and the level, making the most of the opportunity to see future teammates such as Jonathan David, Derek Cornelius, Cyle Larin and Jonathan Osorio up close.
Now, he’ll get to play alongside them on that same pitch, with over 40 friends and family in the stands - safe to say what he learned from that game has paid off.
“I think the last time I was at BC Place was for a National Team game, funnily, I was a ball boy in 2019, I think that was the last time I was there,” Sigur explained. “But I grew up going to BC Place to watch the Whitecaps, I played for the Whitecaps for two years here, so I'd go to most home games, and even also went to Empire field when the Whitecaps went into MLS, so yeah, I grew up around soccer in Vancouver and Burnaby.”
He added: “It was a nice time to be down on the field there, and to see what the level was like. I'm always curious to see that, at the time, I was 15, 16 years old, but I wanted to see how I would play in that situation, in a game like that? It was a good intensity, and I always knew in the back of my mind that I could play there one day, and here I am.”
Of course, while Sigur is looking forward to making his BC Place return as a player this month, he’s also got his eye on some other pretty big games that are coming to his hometown in the future.
As a co-host of the 2026 World Cup, Canada will play at least two games in Vancouver next summer, with the chance of playing up to four, which means that Sigur could soon represent Canada on the biggest global soccer stage, in his home city.
Because of that, he hopes that this summer is just a taste of what’s to come for him at BC Place, as he hopes to play a big role for the team in 2026.
“It’s a dream, for sure. When I saw that Vancouver would get at least two Canada games, it was unbelievable,” he said with a smile. “Obviously, if we get through and we finish first, the next game is at BC Place, and then if we win that, the next game after that is also at BC Place. For me, personally, there's a lot of motivation going into the World Cup to play on that home turf in Vancouver - it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Because of that, one thing’s for sure - you know that Sigur will do what he can to give himself the best shot at being there, including making a big summer transfer.
While he’s in a fantastic position now, playing for one of the biggest teams in Croatia and a top 30 National Team (doing so as the fourth-youngest player in this current CanMNT squad), it wasn’t an easy journey for him to get to this point. 
Even though he spent time in an MLS academy, he then had to go through U Sports to get where he is today, playing one year for the York Lions after leaving the Whitecaps before heading to Europe, where he jumped to Hajduk Split’s youth team in 2022 after a short stint in Slovenia.
Had he been born five years later, his journey would have likely been much smoother, as he could’ve gone through the CPL, or perhaps had a better chance of cracking the Whitecaps first team, but instead, he had to forge an alternative path.
Yet, that journey fuels him, in a way. It’s not often that you see someone go from university-level soccer to the National Team the way he did, but it’s a credit to him that he made such a journey possible.
One of many players on this Canadian team who have had to endure similar stories to reach where they are, he feels that is a strength of this side - certainly, it has been a strength of his, helping fuel his meteoric rise.
“I would say the path I have taken gave me a chip on my shoulder, because I felt like I had to prove a lot of people wrong,” he said. “And I don't think it's been the same for kids even in recent years, because there are more opportunities. When I was growing up, there was no CPL, there were MLS teams, but now you have guys going through the NCAA and getting drafted, U Sports and getting drafted, more players are coming through U Sports, period. I'm glad I could be one of the guys who did that.”
“But for me, it was tough growing up, and I think a lot of these players (in the squad) share that chip on their shoulder, because they had to fight for everything they have, but I hope for kids in Canada, it doesn't have to necessarily be like that going forward, because there's gonna be more opportunities, especially now that the World Cup is coming.”
