Canada head coach Jesse Marsch hopes his team’s success at the Copa America will make Canadian players with dual citizenship think twice about playing for another country.
Hired in May to succeed John Herdman, Marsch helped Canada to a sensational run at the South American Championship in his first tournament at the helm.
Canada defeated Venezuela on penalties in the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champions Argentina. They then gave heavy favourites Uruguay a run for their money before losing 4-3 in a tiebreaker in the third-place play-off.
“Maybe some players thought the opportunity to go play for another nation would be better because they might be able to play more internationally,” Marsch said Tuesday at the Nutrilait Centre, CF Montreal’s training facility.
“I think now that we’ve shown that we can be competitive, the recruiting process, hopefully, will be a little bit easier and cleaner. [On peut] “Come to Canada and we can really turn heads at the World Cup in 2026.”
Canada automatically qualifies for the next World Cup as a co-host with the United States and Mexico. Marsch said he has identified “up to 10” players with dual citizenship to evaluate as he looks to assemble the strongest possible roster for 2026.
The 50-year-old did not name any names, but it likely includes striker Daniel Jebbison, who plays for AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League, and winger Luca Koleosho, with Burnley, also in the English top flight, as well as full-back Mohamed Farsi, of the Columbus Crew.
There is also the case of Vancouver Whitecaps captain Ryan Gauld. The 28-year-old is Scottish, but has not been selected for the national team. He could apply for Canadian citizenship by 2025 and possibly be recalled by the Canadian team.
Mixed attraction
Canada has not always had success with Canadians of other nationalities. Calgary-born Owen Hargreaves, a Champions League winner with Bayern Munich and Manchester United, chose to play for England in the early 2000s after being passed over for Canada’s under-17 team.
Jonathan de Guzman, born in Toronto and the younger brother of former Canadian captain Julian de Guzman, played for the Netherlands after gaining citizenship there during his career. And Calgary defender Fikayo Tomori, currently with AC Milan, has chosen to play for England.
Also aided by its participation in the 2022 World Cup, Canada has done a better job of attracting players with dual citizenship in recent years, including notable Canadians Alphonso Davies (Liberia), Jonathan David (United States) and Stephen Eustaquio (Portugal).
Luc de Fougerolles, an 18-year-old born in England to a Montreal father, took part in a first match with Canada against Uruguay.
Marsch said he will call on Canada Soccer general secretary and CEO Kevin Blue and Canada’s top players to help with his recruiting efforts.
“Kevin Blue is here today and he’s an incredible recruiter, as I learned from the way he brought me here,” Marsch said. “We’re going to draw on him and his experiences. I’m going to travel and communicate, and then we’re asking some of our leaders on the team to be involved in the recruiting process as well.”
“We identify [des joueurs] and then we talk to find the right types of players to fit into what we want to do in the future.”
Although he is looking to add players, Marsch said he put up a “26 for 26” sign — or 26 players for the 2026 World Cup — at the start of the Copa America to make it clear that every player had a chance to be back.
“Develop”, “surpass yourself”
“Every player in the locker room at that point was in a leadership position,” Marsch said. “Their job is to develop, to challenge, to adapt, and to understand what my standards are for the team going forward, and their job was to make sure they didn’t lose their position.”
“During the time we’ve been together, a lot of players have developed and adapted incredibly well.”
Marsch is also focused on discovering more local players after watching little-known 24-year-old Moise Bombito play central defense against some of the world’s best.
He said his “day job” is to help make the national team better, but his “passion project is to develop the sport in this country and create better infrastructure at the youth level, so that we develop players better and faster.”
“It’s unacceptable that a player like Moïse Bombito is only discovered at the age of 23,” he said. “I’ve coached some of the best central defenders in the world. And this is what I told him: ‘I’ve coached [Dayot] Upamecano, [Ibrahima] Konate and [Josko] Gvardiol, and [ton] talent level is in this category.”
“We have to find a way, as a Canadian soccer community, to create a better infrastructure… We have to be able to raise the bar and go from players being identified and developed at 22, 23, 24 to doing it more at 16, 17, 18, 19.”