Les Rouges may have endured a dismal Gold Cup campaign, but they have started their World Cup run up in fine fashion

In July, it seemed that Canada’s moment had gone. 

It was the Gold Cup, and the Canadians were well in the picture to win the tournament. The USMNT were struggling on the pitch, and their fans were arguing off it. Mexico were still a team in between eras and trying to find their footing. Canada, meanwhile, had a new manager, a dynamic new playing style, and the kind of feel-good vibes that are, historically, conducive to a championship run. 

Jesse Marsch knew it. Before the tournament, he pointed out that Canada had done all of the talking, but probably needed to do some winning, too. He constructed the ultimate, almost Jose Mourinho-esque “us vs. them” mentality. Here were Les Rouges, the scrappy underdogs, the Americans of yesteryear made modern, and ready to finally win something. 

Of course, that’s not how it worked out. Canada were bounced from the Gold Cup in the quarterfinals, on the wrong end of a wonderfully worked smash and grab from Guatemala. But they could have few complaints, in the end. Canada should have won, and they didn’t. 

That disappointment left the national team at a bit of a crossroads. There will no longer be a medal around their necks as they roll into a home World Cup. No competitive fixtures are remaining. Instead, Marsch has to find glimpses from friendlies that remain, and show that there is scope for, at least, a performance to be proud of in a tournament held, at least in part, on home soil.

And after beating Romania in convincing fashion, there is reason to suggest that those struggles of last summer might just be fading into footballing memory.