The CanMNT's growing depth helping Jesse Marsch employ caution with Moïse Bombito's return
For the first time in over six months, Moïse Bombito will don a Canadian shirt again, as he was called up for the CanMNT’s friendlies vs. Australia and Colombia later this month.
After missing out on the last three windows due to various injuries, Bombito is finally back to full health and playing for OGC Nice, which has paved the way for him to make a long-awaited return to the CanMNT.
Given this Canadian team’s reliance on Bombito since Jesse Marsch’s arrival in May of last year, this is big news for them, as they’ve lacked a player of his profile since his injury.
At the same time, it’s worth noting that Bombito is stepping back into a very different Canadian team. As of his last game for Canada, which came against the US in the third-place game of the Concacaf Nations League finals, he had been the only Canadian player to play every minute of every game under Marsch. 
Now, though, after having missed eight matches, Bombito returns to a Canadian team that was able to cope in his absence, conceding just four goals across those matches.
That’s big news, as there was a big worry that Canada’s defence, which had conceded just 16 goals in Marsch’s first 15 games of action, was too reliant on Bombito’s skillset and that they’d leak goals with him out.
While they did miss him, as Bombito is still the Canadian centre back best suited to playing in Marsch’s high line and aggressive system, there are now a few players who can step up and fill the hole he left behind, however.
Derek Cornelius is a big one, which isn’t unsurprising - he and Bombito have formed a nice defensive pairing since his arrival - but the emergence of the young Luc De Fougerolles has been an excellent story, while Joel Waterman has also stepped up big in Bombito’s absence.
In a sense, though, it’s fitting that Canada’s centre back group for this October window consists of those four names - Bombito, Cornelius, De Fougerolles and Waterman - as that appears to be Marsch’s four preferred centre backs at this moment.
Just a year and a half ago, it felt like Canada were lacking centre backs, but now that has changed, in a big way.
Bombito’s emergence has, of course, been a big boost - he’s proven to be just as important as the likes of Jonathan David, Alphonso Davies and Stephen Eustáquio to this Canadian team - but the growth of Cornelius and De Fougerolles, in particular, have also been huge.
Moïse Bombito is BACK in the #CanMNT squad for the October window! 🙌
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 1, 2025
But how big a role should he play in friendlies vs. Australia🇦🇺 and Colombia🇨🇴? 🤔
Here’s why Jesse Marsch can afford to be patient with the OGC Nice centre back 🗣️
FULL CHAT▶️https://t.co/N3POY0uM5l pic.twitter.com/f5QhYHzBkc
What will be interesting to see, though, is how much this group can progress now that Bombito is back. Certainly, it feels like this Canadian team can only benefit from his return, both in terms of what he’ll bring to the team and how he’ll push the group to match the levels he continues to hit for club and country.
Plus, the best news of them all? Marsch won’t feel the pressure to rush Bombito back to action in the short-term, either, as he’s still only played 90 minutes since May, coming this past week in a 1-1 Nice draw vs. Paris FC.
Before, with Canada’s lack of centre back options, Bombito might’ve been thrust back into a big role immediately upon his return, which could come with a big risk of re-injury, which would be a big loss for Canada.
Now, though, Marsch can ease him back into play - he noted that he will likely only start Bombito for one of the two matches vs. Australia and Colombia, perhaps bringing him off the bench for the other.
Without the emergence of Cornelius, De Fougerolles and Waterman, Marsch might’ve been a lot more hesitant to do something like that, showing how important their play for Canada these past six months has been.
Of course, the big question will be to see what game Bombito plays in this window - as someone who hasn’t played a whole lot in his hometown of Montréal, it’d be nice to see him play in that home game vs. Australia, but it feels like Canada could benefit more from having him start vs. Colombia - but Marsch will have options, and that in itself is a good thing.
“I’m really excited that Moïse (Bombito) is back. He's a really important player for us, no question,” Marsch said of Bombito. “He and I have kept in good contact, as I have with the club over the past weeks and months. Moïse is a mature young player and has established himself at an incredibly high level with OGC Nice, where he’s an important player with a big future. For us, he's going to prove to be an incredibly important player for the national team, as well.”
“We’ll evaluate him this window, Moïse is likely to start one of the matches, but not both, as we'll evaluate exactly where he's at and want to make sure that we're still careful enough with him that we don't risk any potential injuries at this moment, because while he's healthy from his wrist and and tibia perspective, it’s always a little bit of a dangerous when a player comes back after being out for a while, he can pick up some muscle injuries.”
“So we'll be evaluating him and monitoring him carefully, and make sure that we're not overexposing him.”
🇫🇷 Moïse Bombito starts for Nice this morning against Paris FC!#CanMNT https://t.co/sRkBd012B0
— Canucks Abroad (@Canucks_Abroad) September 28, 2025
Yet, this has been the biggest area of growth for this Canadian team over the last year - they’ve really grown their depth in significant ways. After spending most of 2024 building up Canada’s high-end talent, they’ve become a much deeper squad in 2025, and that’s allowed them to cope with absences such as Bombito’s, along with injuries to Liam Millar, Alphonso Davies and Alistair Johnston.
Speaking of the latter three, they’re all progressing nicely from injuries - Millar is back in the Canadian squad this window, while Marsch hasn’t ruled out a Davies or Johnston return for November - but Canada won’t feel the pressure to rush either of them back to action, with the depth they have at each of their positions.
Bombito’s gradual return is a prime example of that, so look for him to ease his way back into this Canadian squad as he tries to pick up where he left off before this injury.
When speaking about Canada’s depth, these are the little ways where that newfound roster solidity is helping push this team to new heights, and they’ll hope to continue their growth with another strong window this month.
“There's continuity to the squad,” Marsch offered. “I think there's an understanding in the group of what we're trying to establish, and we're going to pick up where we left off.”
