WHAT WE LEARNED: What can CanMNT take from Canadian Shield victory ahead of Gold Cup?
All in all, it was a successful pair of games for the CanMNT.
They got to play 180 minutes of soccer, at home, against two good teams, and came out with a win and a draw, all while getting a look at 24 different players. Then, at the end of it all, they got to lift a trophy, having won the inaugural Canadian Shield friendly invitational thanks to their 4-2 win vs. Ukraine and 0-0 draw (5-4 on PKs) vs. Côte d’Ivoire.
Ahead of a big summer, it was the perfect scene-setter, as they now get set to turn their attention towards the Gold Cup. Their last opportunity to snap their 25-year trophy drought (no, the Canadian Shield doesn’t count) before the World Cup, the Gold Cup will be a huge opportunity for Canada to keep growing, as they play their final competitive matches before embarking on a swath of friendlies leading into the World Cup.
Canadian Shield ✅
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 11, 2025
Gold Cup ___
FIFA World Cup ___
We're coming for you, planet earth 🌍 😎#CanMNT 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/uCXiO3EkxA
As the countdown clock officially hits one year on the road to the World Cup, which will kick off on June 11th of 2026, Canada is in a pretty good place right now, and this Canadian Shield once again showed that.
They’ve got plenty to work on and improve over the next 12 months, and have some hard questions to answer as they figure out both their best starting XI and their World Cup squad, but there's no doubting their commitment to this team and their identity under head coach Jesse Marsch.
Now, they’ll look to take what they learned in the Canadian Shield, as they try and power themselves to a Gold Cup triumph, with their journey in that tournament kicking off June 17th in Vancouver.
With that in mind, here are three KEY takeaways from the Canadian Shield.
Extended auditions show positions of strength… and worry:
Jesse Marsch had a choice to make.
Either he went for two stronger lineups across both games, sprinkling new players in where he saw fit and otherwise mostly restricting auditions to those coming off the bench, or he could’ve rotated completely, allowing him to throw some new players into the fire.
For the most part, he’s done the former in his time in charge - other than Canada’s third-place match against Uruguay at last summer’s Copa América, he’s not been one to rotate heavily in games, instead choosing to slowly integrate players into an established team when he sees fit. That has not been a bad thing, as it’s given new players more time to adjust to Marsch’s system, ensuring that no one was thrown into the deep end.
With Marsch now on the job for over a year, however, it feels like that’s given plenty of time for players to learn his system, and he seemed to recognize that this camp, as he rotated the squad a lot heavier than he did in past camps. As mentioned earlier, 24 different players saw the field in this camp, including 21 starters, which is quite impressive for a window in which there were only 180 minutes up for grabs.
Having built up that depth, Marsch wanted to see as many players as possible in action, and he certainly did that.
There, he learned a lot about certain positional battles, giving a better idea of where his team is at a year out from the World Cup.
For example, he now knows that he has ferocious competition out wide. Heading into this camp, it’s felt like Jacob Shaffelburg and Ali Ahmed were the main starters on the wing, as those two have been some of the most impressive performers since Marsch’s arrival.
In this window, however, Tajon Buchanan had a long-awaited resurgence, as he put in a performance for the ages vs. Ukraine. Having not picked up a goal contribution for Canada since the 2022 World Cup, with his last goal coming in March of 2022, he scored and assisted in that 4-2 win, putting in a player of the match performance at right wing.
That’s big news, as Buchanan was one of Canada’s most important players on the run to the 2022 World Cup and then at that World Cup, with his success for Canada pushing him from the New England Revolution to Club Brugge and then Inter Milan in a matter of years. Since his move to Inter, however, his confidence had dipped, before he suffered an injury at the Copa América that further derailed his progress, showing why it’s so important to see him back and firing at a top level.
THIS is the Tajon Buchanan we all know and love 🥰
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 9, 2025
The #CanMNT 🇨🇦 star was in fine form against Ukraine – how important will he be at the Gold Cup (and World Cup?) 👀 pic.twitter.com/g1GxGV4GB8
Buchanan wasn’t the only wide player to impress, however. In his return to the Canadian fold for the first time since the 2023 Gold Cup, Jayden Nelson showed why his play with the Vancouver Whitecaps put him in Marsch’s plans, as he was lively off the bench vs. Ukraine and as a starter vs. Côte d’Ivoire. Combined with solid shifts from Ahmed and Shaffelburg, Marsch can be quite pleased with that group, one that will give him plenty of headaches in the next 12 months as he figures out which is the best duo to start and to come off the bench - and that’s without considering where Liam Millar can fit in that group when he returns from injury, as he’s not to be forgotten, either.
Otherwise, another position of strength ended up being at centre back, as Canada deployed four different centre backs across both games - two veterans in Derek Cornelius and Joel Waterman, and two youngsters in Luc De Fougerolles and Jamie Knight-Lebel.
In particular, De Fougerolles was very impressive vs. Ukraine, looking great on both sides of the ball, but Waterman helped keep a clean sheet vs. Côte d’Ivoire, and Cornelius showed great leadership as he stepped up in the absence of usual partner Moïse Bombito. All of a sudden, Canada has depth at a position where they once struggled to find players, which is very important. 
Staying at the back, Canada also had some good moments from their full backs - Niko Sigur and Zorhan Bassong were solid vs. Ukraine, while Richie Laryea and Sam Adekugbe did well vs. Côte d’Ivoire, with a cameo from De Fougerolles also offering hope that he can cover at the position if needed, which might further cement his spot in this squad long-term, especially given Canada’s injury troubles at the position with Alphonso Davies and Adekugbe.
Then, in goal, Maxime Crépeau and Dayne St.Clair put in good shifts, as they battle to become Canada’s #1 for the World Cup. They were tested in different ways, but both did a good job, with Crépeau making several five-alarm saves before Ukraine got some late goals to spoil his clean sheet, while St.Clair managed to keep his clean sheet in a quieter performance a few days later.
While Canada’s depth shone at those respective positions, however, Marsch was left with more to think about elsewhere on the pitch.
In midfield, Canada had two strong performances from Stephen Eustáquio and Nathan Saliba vs. Ukraine, with Saliba in particular doing well to recover from a slow start to the game to put in a good performance, but the midfield duo of Jonathan Osorio and Ismaël Koné struggled vs. Côte d’Ivoire, with both struggling defensively and Osorio unable to find the pace of the game on the ball. Mathieu Choinière did have a good shift off the bench in the second game, so he might be one to watch in the next few weeks, with Eustáquio set to miss the first part of the Gold Cup due to Club World Cup commitments, as Choinière seems the closest thing Canada has to a replacement for their all-action midfield lynchpin, who is the one lock in midfield in 2026.
Lastly, up front, Marsch was left with more questions than answers, especially after the second game. In the first game, it was the double David show, as Jonathan David and Promise David started together for the first time, and they looked great as J. David nabbed a brace and P. David opened his Canada account on his debut.
With P. David only lasting 45 minutes in that game before withdrawing because of an injury, one that saw him held out of the Côte d’Ivoire game as a precaution (he looks fine for the Gold Cup), that offered a chance for Daniel Jebbison, Tani Oluwaseyi and Cyle Larin to step up, and they weren’t able to impress as much as hoped. In particular, a tough first half from the pair of Larin and Jebbison vs. Côte d’Ivoire will have hurt their stock, as they struggled to press as effectively as the double David’s, and couldn’t hold up the ball as well, either.
No doubt, this team’s attack runs through J. David, who has scored eight of the 18 goals the CanMNT has under Marsch, but Canada will hope they can find someone who can step up and provide a similar impact alongside him - for the moment, P. David leads that race based on this camp, so look for him to step up at the Gold Cup, although Larin, Jebbison and Oluwaseyi will keep pushing.
Marsch’s system continues to shine, but plan B is something to watch:
Of course, as seen by the scores, Canada played two very different games in this tournament, as they were dominant vs. Ukraine, but were then unable to impose themselves vs. Côte d’Ivoire.
Once again, however, these Canadian Shield matches showed what Canada can look like at their best - but also how teams will try to stop them from hitting that form.
Against Ukraine, they looked like the best version of themselves, as they were dangerous in transition, carving through their opponents every time they got on the ball, while doing well to press them into mistakes defensively.
The numbers from that match paint an impressive picture - they had 2.95 xG, their most in a game under Marsch, as they generated a whopping eight big chances despite generating just 12 shots and keeping 37% of possession, which shows the success they had in transition and via their press.
Versus Côte d’Ivoire, however, they struggled to impose themselves similarly, as all of their attempts to raise the pace of the game were matched by the defending AFCON winners. A rare team that could match the physical intensity at which Canada wanted to play the game, it forced them to change their approach, something they struggled to do until the later stages of the game.
Yet, that continues to be something to watch going forward. When Canada plays an opponent where they’re able to deploy their plan A, they’ve been pretty dominant, as the win vs. Ukraine showed, which might’ve been their best performance under Marsch other than what they showed in a pair of wins vs. the US in March and September.
As this Côte d’Ivoire match showed, however, Canada will need to adjust better to matches where teams challenge them physically, and try to limit what they can do with their press and in transition. Given that Mexico also successfully disrupted them in a friendly last September and in the Nations League semi-finals in March, it shows that a blueprint can be there for teams to exploit.
Jesse Marsch gave me nearly a two-minute answer when I asked him to assess the #CanMNT in his tenure:
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) June 11, 2025
“The group has responded every time. Even though it's not been perfect, I think we continue to understand what we what every moment needs, and then we are ready to deliver.” pic.twitter.com/3pvFnDAiPx
Because of that, it’ll be interesting to see how Marsch adjusts going forward. Does he perhaps consider a tactical change for games where teams might be expected to muck things up, such as inserting a third midfielder instead of a second striker to help Canada create central overloads, or tweaking Canada’s build-up to get his full backs and midfielders more involved in the final third? Or will it simply be about figuring out which players fit best in games like that, with Canada’s issues in those matches stemming from player selection instead of the system?
The answer isn’t yet clear, but how Marsch tackles this at the Gold Cup, where teams will be expected to sit back and challenge him physically, will be very telling in terms of where he thinks the best way to approach this problem is.
Are Canada ready to win the Gold Cup?
Speaking of the Gold Cup, however, that leads nicely to the final question - is Canada ready to go and win that tournament?
As they showed last week, when they revealed a strong squad, they should embrace being favourites for that tournament, but is that a fair tag for them to carry?
The answer is absolutely, and the Canadian Shield showed that.
Facing a top UEFA side that regularly participates at the Euros, and the defending AFCON champions, Canada got a win and a draw despite rotating their squad and weren’t even happy with that outcome - two years ago, they would’ve been ecstatic to win even one of these matches.
Yet, this shows why the Gold Cup is such an important tournament for them. After having come up short at the Nations League despite being one of the favourites, it served as a reminder that, for all of the learning they’ve done, it’s a different beast to win continental trophies and to win World Cup games.
If Canada is to take all of the positive momentum from the last 12 months, and turn it into success next summer, they need to learn how to win those big games, and this Gold Cup will be their last best chance to do that before the World Cup, at least in a competitive environment.
Canada’s 26 are chosen 🫡 pic.twitter.com/Rp6746Exfj
— Gold Cup (@GoldCup) June 5, 2025
Because of that, they must seize this opportunity. On paper, they’ve got everything going for them - they’ve arguably got the strongest team in the tournament, other than maybe Mexico, especially given the team that the US have brought. Plus, they also come into this Gold Cup in form, having lost just three times since the start of last summer’s Copa America - twice to defending World Cup champions Argentina, and once to Mexico - despite playing some pretty strong opposition over that span.
Now, fresh off this Canadian Shield triumph, where they once again proved that they can go up against some top sides and more than hold their own, they’ll look to bring that into the Gold Cup, where it’ll be ‘win or bust’ for Marsch’s side.
