TIERNEY: Are we seeing Jesse Marsch's World Cup squad assembling at 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup?

On Thursday, a year and six days before the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off, Canada unveiled its squad for the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup – their last competitive tournament before stepping out onto the biggest stage of all.

The make-up of the squad was incredibly telling: Of the 26 players that manager Jesse Marsch named to his final roster, few if any were surprises given that most of them have been called up both lately and regularly. 

The Gold Cup roster is missing just three players in the 2024-25 Concacaf Nations League squad: Zorhan Bassong, who was a late replacement for Richie Laryea in that team anyway, and the now-injured Alphonso Davies and Moïse Bombito.

To go back to last summer, not including the injured Davies, Bombito and Liam Millar, this Gold Cup roster has just five changes from the 2024 Copa América roster: The exclusion of Kyle Heibert, Sam Piette, Theo Bair, Jacen Russell-Rowe and Junior Hoilett.

In some of his most important opportunities to get a real look at what he has in his talent pool, Marsch elected to have a further look at those he already knows best. With a year to determine which of these players will pull on a Canada shirt at the home World Cup, a lot of that squad appears increasingly clear. 

Traditionally, big Concacaf nations, of which Canada is now certainly a part of, have used these Gold Cup tournaments as an opportunity to get a wider look at their depth options. Just look at Canada’s squad at the last Gold Cup in 2023, albeit a year after a World Cup, which featured an incredibly experimental mix which saw debuts for players like Zac McGraw, Dominick Zator, Jacen Russell-Rowe, Ali Ahmed, Victor Loturi, and Bombito – playing as a defensive midfielder no less. 

But it doesn’t seem like there is going to be much time to audition this time around, at least not in a Canada shirt. As Marsch narrows in on his final World Cup squad, it is clear that he wants to keep a very similar collection of players together, and is going to use every opportunity he can to build their chemistry and understanding of how he wants to play. 

There also seems to be an impressive amount of buy-in among those who are clear locks to make the World Cup squad, with Jonathan David, Stephen Eustáquio, Alistair Johnston and Tajon Buchanan all named to the Gold Cup despite gruelling club and international seasons. This certainly hasn’t been the case for other top Concacaf nations, like the United States, given the absence of Christian Pulisic for example. 

As of right now, there are plenty of questions as to what Canada’s best eleven looks like, all the way from goalkeeper to who starts alongside David (Jonathan, that is) up top. But the pool of players that eleven will be selected from appears to be increasingly set. 

History tells us that meteoric rises are possible, of course. A year ago, Promise David was a little-known striker playing in Estonia. Ismaël Koné made his professional debut less than a year before representing Canada at the 2022 World Cup. 

Other players could work their way back into the mix, like Liam Millar when he returns from injury, or a striker like Jacen Russell-Rowe or perhaps Theo Bair, should they get hot at just the right time and put together a strong campaign. But time and opportunities are increasingly not on their side. 

Dual nationals like the recently called-up Daniel Jebbison are also a possibility, but as far as the known options in this regard, there aren’t many left of significant immediate consequence. The process to make players eligible often takes time as well. 

Owen Goodman is one potential example, should he get his Canadian citizenship and enter the still-open discussion for Canada’s third goalkeeper spot. It is worth noting, though, that even here there has been consistency as Dayne St. Clair, Maxime Crépeau and Tom McGill were the goalkeepers at the Copa América, Nations League Finals and now the Gold Cup.

Other factors, such as injury or perhaps a lack of minutes or a significant dip in form at the club level, remain a potential consideration, especially with many players on this Canadian roster expected or rumoured to be moving this off-season. 

Squad size is also a fairly significant question, there hasn’t yet been an official confirmation as to whether FIFA will continue with the 26-player squads that were initially implemented due to the Covid-19 pandemic or revert back to the 23-player rosters allowed at previous tournaments. If it is 26, that evidently creates a bit more flexibility.  

But at the moment, the vast majority of the names on Canada’s roster today will likely be those who get the call to represent the country at a home World Cup in 2026. It increasingly appears like Marsch has largely found his squad, and now it is about giving them as many minutes as possible together and working with this selected group to take them to their highest level attainable over the next few years.