PREVIEW: CanMNT have eyes on Gold Cup, World Cup in Canadian Shield clash vs. Ukraine
With a year and five days to go until the 2026 FIFA World Cup touches down in Toronto, the Canadian men's national team will be on the pitch at BMO Field this weekend to open the Canadian Shield tournament against Ukraine.
Jesse Marsch's Canada side kicks off a pivotal summer calendar on home soil, and will play two tough friendlies in Toronto before jetting off to Vancouver to begin their Concacaf Gold Cup campaign — which represents the final competitive games Canada will play before the World Cup.
With such limited time remaining before the world arrives next year, Canada will be relishing every opportunity to test themselves against strong opposition.
So, Saturday presents a valuable chance to take on Ukraine, who offer a different kind of opposition to the Concacaf opponents Canada has played recently.
The Ukrainians currently sit 25th in the FIFA World Rankings, and have earned a handful of impressive results over the past few years. They exited at the group stage of last summer's Euro 2024, but only as the odd side out in a bizarre Group E where all four teams finished on four points. Ukraine had beaten Slovakia and drawn with Belgium, but a heavy loss to Romania meant they went out on goal difference.
In UEFA Nations League action over the past year, Ukraine came second in their group in League B, and narrowly missed promotion to League A by losing a two-legged tie, 4-3 on aggregate, to Belgium.
Ukraine's biggest footballing triumph in recent memory, however, was four years ago at Euro 2020, where they went all the way to the quarter-finals after beating Sweden in extra time in the round of 16 before bowing out to finalists England.
Although it's a somewhat transitional period for the Ukrainian team at the moment, with many of the older stars from the Euro 2020 run now moved on, there's plenty of talent in the squad that Canada will have to deal with. Arsenal fullback Oleksandr Zinchenko is the most recognizable name in the group; he often plays in central midfield for his country, but is dangerous either there or out on either flank. Up front, Olimpiacos striker Roman Yaremchuk has been Ukraine's best goalscoring threat for several years; he has 17 goals for the national team, including several crucial ones at major tournaments.
In goal, Real Madrid's Andriy Lunin is the likely starter for Ukraine. As mentioned though, this is a Ukrainian team in transition, with some notable veterans — like former West Ham winger Andriy Yarmolenko, or Chelsea attacker Mykhailo Mudryk — not in the group (with the latter still suspended for a doping violation).
Nonetheless, Ukraine have proven to be well-organized under coach Serhiy Rebrov, and they represent the kind of opposition that Canada could well encounter at the World Cup next year.
"Looking ahead to the World Cup, it's always imagining the types of opponents you could be getting in that tournament from all around the world," Marsch said on Friday. "What those games feel like, what those opponents play like, tactical nuances. Obviously there's differences between all the different teams in the different regions, but I think for all of our teams and players to experience what it's like to play in these levels of games is really important for the overall development of our team."
As a host country, Canada will be in Pot 1 for the World Cup draw, but they'll still likely have to contend with at least one, if not two, opponents within the top 30.
Photo: Audrey Magny/Canada Soccer
These Canadian Shield matches, then — both Saturday's against Ukraine and Tuesday's clash with Côte d'Ivoire — provide Marsch and Canada with a chance to simulate their World Cup environment at BMO Field, against teams they could well meet at that stage.
Plus, with the Concacaf Gold Cup kicking off about a week after this Canadian Shield, Marsch will need these two matches to fine-tune his squad and make some final lineup decisions. Canada enter the Gold Cup as serious contenders to win the tournament, and Marsch has named an extremely strong roster with the intention of doing so. He'll want to make good use of these friendlies to ensure his side is at the top of its game, in order to extend the team's time together this summer as long as he possibly can.
Among the key decisions Marsch needs to make with his squad are in midfield and at the fullback spots. With Alphonso Davies and Alistair Johnston both absent, Canada are missing the two starting fullbacks from the Concacaf Nations League finals. Sam Adekugbe is the likely replacement on the left, but the question on the right will be whether Richie Laryea (who made a 13-minute appearance to return from injury last weekend) is fit enough, or if Niko Sigur is the preferred option.
One issue for Canada, however, is the health of their three Vancouver Whitecaps players, Adekugbe, Ali Ahmed and Jayden Nelson. Marsch said Friday that the three are healthy and ready to go, but not quite 90 minutes fit after suffering from food poisoning, which affected most of the Whitecaps squad after returning from their Concacaf Champions Cup final trip to Mexico City.
Meanwhile up front, Jonathan David is the natural starter at striker, and Cyle Larin is his usual partner, but it wouldn't be at all surprising for a player like Tani Oluwaseyi, whom Marsch has shown confidence in latestly, to get a start. Or, perhaps, it could be time for Promise David — fresh off his Belgian title-winning heroics — to get his first serious look with Canada.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Canada: St. Clair; Laryea, Waterman, Cornelius, Adekugbe; Buchanan, Koné, Eustáquio, Shaffelburg; Oluwaseyi, J. David
Ukraine: Lunin; Tymchyk, Zabarnyi, Matviyekno, Zinchenko; Tsyhankov, Kalyuzhnyi, Yarmolyuk, Shaparenko, Zubkov; Yaremchuk
ALL-TIME SERIES
Canada wins: 0 || Ukraine wins: 0 || Draws: 1
Last meeting:
Oct. 8, 2010 -- Ukraine 2-2 Canada (International Friendly)
