PREVIEW: CanMNT getting set to apply Copa América learnings in friendlies vs. USMNT, Mexico
For the first time since they fell to Uruguay on penalties in the Copa América third-place match on July 13th of this year, the CanMNT are back in action this week, as they get set to take on Concacaf rivals US and Mexico in a pair of friendlies.
Starting with a clash against the US in Kansas City on Saturday, September 7th, and then leading into a matchup with Mexico in Arlington on Tuesday, September 10th, those promise to be two key tests for this Canadian side.
Fresh off a landmark Copa América performance, where they surprise onlookers en route to a top-four finish, this Canadian team is looking to prove that run was no fluke and something they’ll look to replicate once they reach the 2026 World Cup, which they’ll co-host.
To do that, however, a few big years await them, and that starts this fall with these friendlies, leading into the next Concacaf Nations League cycle and the 2025 Gold Cup. Having shown they can hang with some global giants at the Copa América, they’ll now look to prove they can be a top dog in Concacaf, and no better way to do so than to pick up some silverware, having last done so at the 2000 Gold Cup.
With no competitive games to play until November, however, and the rest of the world busy with competitions of their own, that’s left Canada to have to continue that preparation against some teams closer to home who find themselves in a similar situation in fellow 2026 co-hosts the US and Mexico, which is why they booked these friendlies.
There, Canada can slowly start their quest to prove their status as a top dog in Concacaf, while still working on improving what they learned this summer, making this window a valuable one for them.
With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know ahead of these two friendlies.
US looking to bounce back after home Copa América disappointment:
After making a run to the semi-finals in the 2016 Copa América as hosts, the expectations were for the US to make a similar run in 2024 once they were named hosts of that tournament.
Armed with arguably a more talented team on paper, and coming off a 2022 World Cup where they reached the Round of 16, it felt they had what it took to at least make the Copa América quarter-finals, if not the semi-finals.
Despite that, it wasn’t meant to be as they failed to get out of a group with Uruguay, Panama and Bolivia, leading to the firing of Gregg Berhalter as head coach.
Now, that’s led them to hit the reset button as they get set for a massive two years, leading into a crucial World Cup on home soil. On paper, there’s no reason why the US can’t make a deep run at that tournament, but they’ve struggled to take the step required to do so, as they’ve been unable to convert strong performances in Concacaf into games outside of the region.
But they’ll now hope that their new manager, who is rumoured to be former Southampton, Tottenham, PSG and Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino, can help turn that around.
Officially, Pochettino is yet to be announced as a new manager, although all signs indicate that’ll happen sooner rather than later, with some rumours even indicating that he’ll be around the US team this camp to at least begin the embedding process in this new role.
Mauricio Pochettino Prepared to Sign as USMNT Manager This Week, per @fabrizioromano 🇺🇸
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) September 3, 2024
Verbal agreement reportedly made weeks ago, with final details of contract currently being ironed over. This after The Athletic reported he’ll be in KC for Canada friendly on Saturday 😍 pic.twitter.com/XPtaPAFhhB
Until that’s finalized, however, Mikey Varas is the interim head coach, and he’s called in an interesting roster for his first game in charge. Short several regulars due to injury, including Tyler Adams, Tim Weah, Weston McKennie, Sergiño Dest, Antonee Robinson and Gio Reyna, he’s called in a very young squad, which includes 10 players 22 or younger and 21 players 26 or younger among the group of 24 called in.
Plus, in veteran Tim Ream and goalkeeper Matt Turner, they’ve only called in two players aged 30 or older, too, showing that this camp is purely about looking ahead to the future.
To be fair, this US team has been skewing younger for a while now, shown by the fact that they’ve still got 16 players with more than 10 caps and nine players with more than 20 caps, so this isn’t anything new for them.
Yet, that’s a reflection of the state of this US generation, which is filled with talented young players, many of which are making their mark at strong European clubs. That this roster is filled with 21 players based in Europe shows that.
Now, however, the big goal is for more and more of them to play key roles on bigger clubs in Europe, and for that to translate over to the National Team so that they can avoid a repeat of what happened this summer.
That starts with this camp, so look for Varas to put out a strong team against Canada, which they’ll view as a good matchup to help them prepare for what lies ahead. .
In terms of style of play, it’s hard to know how the US will play in the post-Berhalter era, but expect them to want to hold onto the ball and to be fluid in the attack, continuing an emphasis to be more attacking than past iterations of American teams.
At the same time, cleaning up their defence will be a big goal, as they’ve got the weapons to be dangerous in transition if they can be good in their box, so that could be something to watch out for, too.
One thing’s for sure, though - in terms of Concacaf competitions, they remain the team to beat in the region, having won three Nations League trophies and one Gold Cup in the past five years, so look for them to remind Canada of that in this game.
Given the links between the US and Marsch, who grew up in the country, represented them internationally, was an assistant coach and even went through an interview process to become their head coach in 2023, it feels like this has the potential to be more intense than most friendlies.
And that’s key, as it could set the table for years of good battles between these two teams, adding chapters to a rivalry that has seemed to be renewed after once being exclusively dominated by the US.
The USMNT have been eliminated from Copa América in the group stage 😬 pic.twitter.com/tvhqxd0Xib
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 2, 2024
Can Mexico put a tough start to the decade behind them?
It’s been a rough start to the decade for the Mexican National Team, who have just one trophy to their name since the start of 2020 - a Gold Cup crown from last summer.
MEXICO CRASH OUT OF COPA AMERICA 🇲🇽💔
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) July 1, 2024
Scoreless draw with Ecuador in must-win final game means El Tri get grouped. One goal scored in 3 games proves far less than ideal.
Mexico Fans, are you surprised by the early exit? And what has to happen to right the ship? pic.twitter.com/rg8tK7MaBh
Other than that, they’ve lost two Nations League finals, one Nations League semi-final and a Gold Cup final, all to the US. For a team that was once expected to win every Concacaf tournament they’ve played in, they’ve seemed to lose that sense of invincibility they once had in this region, and that’s extended to play outside of Concacaf - they failed to reach the Round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup for the first time since 1990.
Because of that, this is seen as a massive two years for the Mexican program, who will want to avoid an embarrassing 2026 World Cup given their position as co-hosts.
Yet, two factors have mainly contributed to Mexico’s struggles, and that’s been their coaching, as they’ve had four different managers since the start of 2020, and their player pool, which lacks the sort of standout pieces past generations could rely on.
At the same time, they’ll feel confident they can turn things around over the next two years, in both regards.
First, they feel they’ve found their head coaching solution by hiring Javier Aguirre and bringing in Mexican legend Rafael Márquez as an assistant, having made that choice off the back of a disappointing Copa América where Mexico also failed to get out of their group.
UN PRIVILEGIO 🤩
— Selección Nacional (@miseleccionmx) September 5, 2024
🎙️ Sebastián Córdova ELOGIÓ al Cuerpo Técnico de la Selección Nacional de México 💚🤍❤️
🫡 "Javier Aguirre es perfeccionista" 💯#PorMéxicoTodo 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/5zDr9lVoW5
From there, they’ll also feel they’ve got some younger players to keep an eye on going forward, having called up 13 players 25 or younger for this camp - they had 11 such players in their Copa América squad and 10 such players in their 2022 World Cup squad.
On the flip side, that doesn’t solve another big worry that some have with this Mexican squad, however, and that’s a lack of players playing in Europe, as just seven players in their latest 26-player squad play in Europe, with one other playing in Saudi Arabia and 18 others playing in Liga MX.
Certainly, playing in Liga MX isn’t a bad thing, as the level of the league remains strong, but with Canada and the US both exporting players to Europe at a higher rate than ever, one can wonder if Mexico will start to fall behind both if they continue to rely heavily on domestic players.
Especially given that Mexico was once a top exporter of players to Europe, that’s been a huge discussion point, one that will certainly only continue over the next few years if they continue to struggle to export players to top European leagues.
One thing’s for sure, however - Mexico’s squad make-up won’t matter as much if they can return to the identity which they were known for in the 2010s, where they were strong on the ball, tough to break down defensively, lethal in transition and hard to play against. They’ll now hope that Aguirre can bring that back to them, and quickly, as they’ll see this year’s Nations League cycle and next year’s Gold Cup as prime opportunities to remind people that they’re still a top team in this region.
Certainly, they’ll feel this Canada matchup as one to watch, as there are signs that Canada can pass them in the pecking order over the next year, which was once unfathomable for most of the last 30 years, so they’ll see this game as a chance to send a message to Marsch’s side.
Canada looking to apply learning lessons of Copa América:
Despite their landmark Copa América showing, this Canadian team isn’t satisfied with where they’re at as a group and will want to waste no time when it comes to applying what they learned this summer going forward.
Ultimately, for all of their success this summer, where they proved they could go toe-to-toe with top teams and stay competitive, they’ll feel they showed their naivety in some key moments, such as their semi-final loss to Argentina or third-place penalty shootout defeat to Uruguay.
If they want to go on a deep run at the 2026 World Cup, cleaning up those details will be key, as that can be the difference between beating top teams, who know how to take care of games efficiently and ruthlessly, something that Canada struggled to do at times.
At the same time, it’s important to remember where they’re at in their cycle, as Jesse Marsch is still only months removed from taking the job, with his lone experience with this team coming in the pressure-cooker environment that was the Copa América and a couple of tough tune-up friendlies beforehand.
Now, he’ll finally get the chance to further work with this group, allowing them to establish their identity and the best way to employ it going forward.
There's no bigger game than a rivalry, and in Concacaf, #CanMNT 🇨🇦 vs. #USMNT 🇺🇸 is quickly emerging as one of the best 🔥
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 5, 2024
Here's why Jesse Marsch believes his team is up for the challenge 😎 pic.twitter.com/81gxhPLTSZ
As they showed this summer, they’re on the right track, quickly proving that this player pool and Marsch’s style of play are a good fit, but it’ll be important for him to figure out some of what he learned and apply it going forward.
For example, he’ll want to answer questions such as his preferred formation, his best starting XI, his key super subs and more.
And this is the perfect window for him to do that. As he admitted heading into this camp, he’s looking forward to testing different lineups and several players, knowing how valuable these friendlies can be to do that.
Ahead of a crucial year where they’ll want to win the Nations League and Gold Cup, these friendlies will be key to ensure they get off to the right start.
Because of that, look for Marsch to get a better understanding of which players can best help him achieve those things in this window. In particular, this window will be seen as a chance for some new players to shine, as Marsch leaned heavily on some regulars during Copa América, using their familiarity to help ease the adjustment period as he took over.
Having now had some time to work with several different players, however, he’ll want to test them in games like this, seeing if he can discover some more hidden gems, the same way the likes of Moïse Bombito, Jacob Shaffelburg, Ali Ahmed, Mathieu Choinière and Tani Oluwaseyi all emerged as key names this summer.
Can new dual national arrivals Niko Sigur or Stephen Afrifa make a similar jump? Or how about the likes of Jacen Russell-Rowe, Nathan Saliba or Joel Waterman? Marsch will hope so, but it’ll be up to them to take the opportunity if he grants it to them.
At the same time, don’t forget about the regulars, either. With Canada’s increased depth, the pressure is on some regulars to keep their places in the starting XI and squad, which should increase the competition level in games.
Yet, that shows why Marsch has got this team in a good place, as they have a good baseline to build off of, but are far from reaching their peak, which is why the next few years should be so exciting to follow.
After a rough 2023, it feels like they’re back on track again, and they’ll want to show that with a strong end to 2024.
