PREVIEW: CanMNT getting set for stiff test vs. Suriname in Concacaf Nations League quarter-finals
It’s a chance at redemption.
Almost exactly 12 months after the CanMNT were famously upset by Jamaica in the 2023-2024 Nations League quarter-finals, they’ve got an opportunity to redeem that loss in the 2024-2025 Nations League quarter-finals, which get underway this week.
They won’t get to take on that same Jamaica side in this year’s quarter-final, but a familiar foe awaits them nonetheless, as they get set to take on Suriname across two legs.
Their first meeting since both sides met in a decisive World Cup qualifier in June 2021, both Canada and Suriname have come a long way since that match, however.
Now, they’ll look to prove that in this tie, one where Canada will want to return to the semi-finals for the second time in the past three Nations Leagues after last year’s blip against Jamaica, while Suriname will look to reach their first-ever semi-finals in a major Concacaf tournament.
It won’t be an easy tie for either side, especially when considering the travel that both teams will endure with the first leg in Paramaribo, Suriname on Friday and the second leg in Toronto, Canada on Tuesday, but that’s the beauty of Concacaf - travel is just one aspect of what makes this region so fascinating.
Ultimately, good teams find a way to endure such circumstances, and the CanMNT will want to prove they can show why they’ve arguably been the best Concacaf side in 2024, something they can cement by winning this trophy in the spring.
With that in mind, here’s a look at what to expect from this tie.
Suriname continuing to push for 2026 World Cup:
It’s been quite a half-decade for Suriname, who have quickly become one of the more fascinating stories in Concacaf in recent years.
Once a colony of the Netherlands, a lot of their best players often played for the Dutch over the years (including some in pretty massive roles), so they often struggled to impose themselves as a top team within Concacaf. As a result, they had only participated in two Concacaf Championships and Gold Cups between 1963 and 2019, with those appearances coming in 1977 and 1985.
But since 2019, they’ve quickly powered up the Concacaf power rankings, as there was a change made that allowed players with dual nationality to compete for Suriname without forfeiting their Dutch passports.
As a result, they were able to beef up their recruitment, following in the footsteps of someone like Curaçao, who had become an upstart team in Concacaf in the 2010s due to a similar change. Thanks to that, they were able to call in several talented players who were not on the radar of the Netherlands but were still good enough to play in the Eredivisie and other top European leagues.
Now, thanks to that change, Suriname qualified for the 2021 and 2025 Gold Cup (they surprisingly missed out on the 2023 Gold Cup), and got promoted to League A of the Nations League for 2022-2023, with this year marking their third straight participation in League A.
And that’s all allowed them to take realistic steps towards their big goal, which is to qualify for a World Cup for the first time in their history.
So far, they sit on the right track for the next edition - they’re in first place in their second-round group in 2026 Concacaf World Cup qualifying after two games - and will qualify for the third and final round as long as they win at least one of their two remaining second round games next June (and even two draws might be enough).
Led by the work of manager, Stanley Menzo, who was hired in March of this year for his second stint with Suriname, that’s been encouraging to see, and they’ll want to build on that in the next set of World Cup qualifying matches.
Before then, however, their focus lies on this Nations League campaign, where they want to make as deep of a run as possible to further show they’re on the right track when it comes to their World Cup efforts.
Certainly, beating one of the 2026 World Cup co-hosts would be a great way to do that, and that’s not lost on this team.
It’s been a bit of a rockier Nations League campaign than hoped - Suriname only emerged from their group on a tiebreaker after tying with Guatemala on points after finishing with a record of 2W-1D-1L in their four group stage games - but they’ll want to put that behind them in this window.
Not the result we prefered but we’re very proud with the performance today! 🇸🇷#surcri 🇸🇷🇨🇷
— OfficialNatio (@OfficialNatio_) October 12, 2024
*#officialnatio #bribinakrakti #kasekoboys pic.twitter.com/GjcNBbBUlM
No doubt, however, they view this game as a bonus, and that makes them dangerous. On paper, this team is a talented one, too - they have players in Serie A, La Liga, the Championship, the Turkish Süper Lig and the Eredivisie, and can put out quite the starting 11 thanks to that.
In particular, Sheraldo Becker is a big name to watch - the current Real Sociedad and former Union Berlin attacker has five goals in just 14 caps for Suriname and is among the best attackers in Concacaf.
Along with Ridgeciano Haps, the veteran defender currently at Venezia, the EFL Championship pair of defender Anfernee Dijksteel (Middlesbrough) and midfielder Kenneth Paal (QPR), and the Eredivisie quartet of goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen (Groningen), forward Dylan Vente (PEC Zwolle), defender Liam van Gelderen (RKC Waalwijk) and defender Djevencio van der Kust (Sparta Rotterdam), that gives them a key spine of players to rely on.
Lastly, a wild card to watch out for is forward Gleofilo Vlijter, who currently plays for Serbian side OFK Beograd, as he has 15 goals in just 24 appearances for Suriname, making him their all-time top scorer - a tally he’ll certainly want to keep adding to.
At the same time, for all of the talent they have at the top, this is a side that also lacks experience, as 12 of the 23 players they called in for this camp are 25 are younger. And, more importantly, they’ve got no one in this squad with more than 25 caps for Suriname, and just eight of their players have more than 10 caps.
By comparison, Canada has 10 players with more than 25 caps in this latest squad, and they’re missing three names who fit that criteria but are missing this camp in Alphonso Davies, Liam Millar and Derek Cornelius.
Plus, in goal, Suriname’s goalkeepers have just five combined caps between them, as veteran goalkeeper Warner Hahn was ruled out of this camp with an injury - that’s something to keep an eye out for, too.
Because of that, it’s going to make it tough for Suriname to get anything out of this tie. To Canada’s credit, they’ve done a good job of accumulating experience while still being a young side, so they’ve still got room to improve, but will know how to deal with a tough tie like this having experienced tough Concacaf travel like this before.
Speaking of travel, however, that’s the last big thing to watch out for with Suriname - they’re a tough team to beat at home, sitting with a record of 11W-4D-2L since the start of 2019.
If they can emerge from the first leg with a win or draw, one where they limit Canada from any away goals, that can give them a good chance heading into leg two, so keep an eye out for that in this first game.
📋The final list for this important window!
— OfficialNatio (@OfficialNatio_) November 7, 2024
Welcome back Roscello Vlijter 🫡🇸🇷
15/11 • 🇸🇷🇨🇦 8:30pm, Paramaribo
19/11 • 🇨🇦🇸🇷 07:30pm, Toronto
ℕ𝔸ℕ𝔾𝔸 𝕄𝔸𝕂𝔸ℕ𝔻ℝ𝔸 𝕎𝔼 𝔽𝔼𝕋𝕀 𝔽𝕌 𝕎𝕀ℕ𝕀!#officialnatio #bribinakrakti #kasekoboys #concacafnationsleague pic.twitter.com/rPonlYSF2l
No better time than the present to snap trophy drought for CanMNT:
After a strong start to life under Jesse Marsch, a big 12 months awaits this Canadian side, who are looking to make a big leap forward as a side.
Having proved they can go toe-to-toe with some of the top sides in the world this summer, they now want to carry that momentum over into competitive Concacaf play.
There, they’ve got one big goal - to establish themselves as the top side in Concacaf heading into the 2026 World Cup. The best way to do that? To win a trophy, as it’s not been almost 25 years since the CanMNT last won a trophy, coming at the 2000 Gold Cup.
They came close in 2023 but fell to the US in the Nations League final, something that’ll be atop their minds as they tackle this edition of the tournament.
Especially given that their last two tournaments within Concacaf have gone less than ideal, as they fell to the US in the 2023 Gold Cup quarter-finals before their aforementioned loss to Jamaica in the last Nations League, anything short of a final appearance will feel like a disappointment.
ON LOCATION 📍
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) November 13, 2024
Kristian Jack checks in from #CanMNT training camp in Miami as Jesse Marsch's team prepares to head to Suriname for the first of two Concacaf Nations League matches, looking for a spot in the semi-finals 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/1zbQ9VdMOm
Yet, that just shows how much this team has grown. Now, they’ve got quality players at every position, led by the world-class pair of Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David, and supported by the likes of Ismaël Koné, Stephen Eustáquio, Tajon Buchanan, Cyle Larin, Moïse Bombito, Alistair Johnston, Derek Cornelius and many more.
Plus, their depth seems to improve by the window - despite being without Davies, Cornelius and Liam Millar in this camp, that’s not expected to hinder their chances of getting past Suriname, as they were able to slot three replacements in without too much worry (and still left quality players at home). With young talent emerging seemingly by the day, that depth is only going to continue to get better, too, and some of those youngsters will quickly grab bigger roles with the team as they continue to get integrated.
Now, however, their next step is to give this group a taste of winning, which will be massive ahead of the World Cup. No doubt, they’ve positioned themselves to be a team that can be competitive at the World Cup and be among the top teams in Concacaf, but they’ve still got a lot of growth to come if they’re to achieve their goals.
For example, while there’s no doubt they’ll be competitive at the World Cup, there’s a big difference between being competitive and going on a run. They were competitive in Qatar, and still left that tournament without a point - they’d like to avoid repeating that on home soil.
But after a deep run at Copa América, where they finished fourth despite only facing South American teams (including eventual champions Argentina twice), that’ll only boost their hopes of going on a run in 2026.
Until then, however, they want to do as much as they can to ensure they’re as prepared as they can for this tournament, and that involves playing as many high-calibre matches as possible, be it competitive matches or friendlies.
Because of that, the goal in this tournament is to go as deep as possible and to win it all, and that starts with a strong showing against Suriname. 
How will both sides match up?
Tactically, this promises to be a fascinating matchup, as both teams have clear and distinct styles, with both their managers looking to implement their way of playing on their sides since their arrivals.
For Canada, they’ve remained clear with how they want to play since Marsch’s hiring - they want to play direct and vertically on the ball and are looking to press and defend aggressively off it.
Armed with an athletic and technical group of players, it’s proven to be a strong stylistic fit, as they’ve got the players to cause problems for opponents with how they press, defend aggressively and hit teams on the counter.
Either using a 4-2-2-2 or a 4-2-3-1, Canada will look to stick within those philosophies across both legs, perhaps only adjusting slightly from the first leg to the second leg based on game state.
On the flip side, Suriname have looked to play more on the ball, as they’ve won the possession battle in five of their seven games under Menzo this year (and in the two games where they lost it they still held 45 and 48% of the ball).
From there, they’ve looked to do two main things in the attack - break teams down in possession, or to be dangerous on set-pieces.
Using almost exclusively a 4-2-3-1, look for them to try and put Canada under pressure in possession, especially in leg one, where they’ll look to use their familiarity with their home pitch to their advantage. 
Yet, Canada won’t mind that - they’ve only held more than 51% of possession just once under Marsch, coming in the last window in their friendly against Panama where they had 54% of the ball.
And that’ll make for a fascinating battle - will Suriname be able to break down Canada and nullify their transition threat, or will Canada be able to dictate the terms of play off the ball?
Otherwise, something to watch out for will be in terms of Canada’s set-up, as they debate between using a 4-2-2-2 and the 4-2-3-1.
Having mostly used the 4-2-2-2, they’ve also flirted with using the 4-2-3-1 and will be tempted to do so in this camp with the return of Ismaël Koné from injury. With the strong performances of Mathieu Choinière in his absence, it’ll be tempting for Marsch to use Choinière alongside Eustàquio and underneath Koné in the 4-2-3-1, which would then allow Jonathan David to lead the line in more of a free role. 
At the same time, that might be harsh to Cyle Larin, who’d likely get dropped in that scenario, as he busted a lengthy CanMNT scoring drought in the October window, and has been a preferred option under Marsch. There could be a solution where everyone fits in - Choinière has recently played on the wing at Grasshopper, so there’s the possibility of a front six of Eustáquio and Koné in the double pivot, Choinière and Ali Ahmed on the wing, and a front two of David and Larin, although it feels like Jacob Shaffelburg is also unlikely to be dropped out wide - another example of Canada’s growing depth in the attack.
Otherwise, at the back, it’ll be interesting to see who fills in for Davies at left back and Cornelius at centre back. For example, at centre back, will Joel Waterman or Kamal Miller win the battle to slot in? Then, at left back, will Sam Adekugbe or Richie Laryea be preferred to replace Davies?
Lastly, in goal, a fierce debate has emerged between Marsch’s preferred starter this summer, Maxime Crépeau, and Dayne St.Clair, as St.Clair’s strong club performances have suggested that he might be due a start for Canada soon.
But that’s the beauty of Canada’s improved depth - Marsch can have the flexibility to pick between a few different options at each position, which could keep Suriname on their toes, which is never a bad thing to have.
