![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1780119329_23_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\nChris Jones reports on Canada’s World Cup team from Charlotte, N.C.<\/p>\n
On World Cup rosters, there is a 26th man who will live out his dreams, and a 27th man who will see them evaporate in front of his eyes.<\/p>\n
For Canada\u2019s men, Jacob Shaffelburg is the lucky one. Daniel Jebbison is the lost one.<\/p>\n
Head coach Jesse Marsch made five other cuts at his camp in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday, and none of them were shocks. Defenders Ralph Priso, Zorhan Bassong, and Jamie Knight-Lebel, midfielder Jayden Nelson, and forward Jacen Russell-Rowe didn\u2019t make it. The truth is, they knew what was coming before Marsch broke their hearts along with the news.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the core group, I don\u2019t think there were any big surprises,\u201d Marsch said. \u201cMost of the guys know if they\u2019re in or they\u2019re out already.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaffelburg, a winger, had seemed doomed, too.<\/p>\n
He had surgery for a degenerative groin condition in January; just before camp, he picked up a hamstring injury playing for LAFC. He has not trained with the team in Charlotte. He\u2019s worked out by himself in distant corners of distant fields, looking a little uncomfortable walking, let alone running with pace, the way he normally does.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019m a guy who doubts myself,\u201d Shaffelburg said, \u201cbut I was kind of preparing myself for either outcome, just to be fair to everything and the situation I was in. I didn\u2019t really, really know until today with the selection. I was certainly scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
WATCH | ‘We’ve earned respect’ Marsch says of Canadian team:<\/p>\n
‘We’ve earned respect’: Jesse Marsch on Canadian men’s soccer team<\/p>\n
Head coach Jesse Marsch describes the growth of soccer in Canada and how players have earned international respect.<\/p>\n
Jebbison, a forward, is healthy. He scored six goals in 38 appearances with Preston North End in England\u2019s Championship this season. He made Canada\u2019s rosters for the Gold Cup and CONCACAF Nations League Finals last year. He came on as a substitute in both of Canada\u2019s March friendlies against Iceland and Tunisia. He wasn\u2019t there to ride the bench. He played.<\/p>\n
Now he\u2019ll be on his way back to England, to watch if he can stand it.<\/p>\n
In some ways, Jebbison is a victim of Promise David\u2019s improbable recovery. David ruptured his hip tendon in February and was expected to be out for six months, returning well after the World Cup. Had that prognosis proved true, Jebbison would have no doubt made the team. Instead, David has made it back in three.<\/p>\n
Marsch didn\u2019t want to be specific about his toughest cut \u2014 \u201cI don\u2019t want to name a name,\u201d he said \u2014 but he must be confident in David\u2019s repaired tendon, the thread by which so much now hangs. He\u2019s bringing only four forwards into the opening game against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12 in Toronto: David, Jonathan David, Cyle Larin, and Tani Oluwaseyi.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1780119330_714_default.jpg\")
Oakville-born Daniel Jebbison, pictured during a game against Iceland in March, was one of six players cut on Friday. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n
If one of them falters after the tournament starts \u2014 if Promise David\u2019s recovery isn\u2019t as complete as it seems \u2014 Marsch will have only one forward on the bench. Given the high press that he employs, he hasn\u2019t left himself with much margin for breakdowns. Marcelo Flores, normally a midfielder, now becomes a diminutive fifth option up front.<\/p>\n
Jebbison was born in Oakville, Ont., but his mother is English, and he made 13 appearances with England\u2019s youth teams before Marsch convinced him to switch allegiance. \u201cFor me, the reason it\u2019s Canada now: We\u2019re such a young, crazy athletic team,\u201d Jebbison told CBC last March. \u201cI\u2019m also young, I\u2019m also fast, I\u2019m also athletic. There\u2019s a co-relation there. Imagine us in our prime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that Jebbison\u2019s played senior soccer for Canada, he can\u2019t switch back. He\u2019s only 22, and he might get another chance with Marsch in 2030. But as he retreated to his hotel room on Friday night, he must have been feeling deeply wounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy way of dealing with this is just being totally transparent and open,\u201d Marsch said. \u201cA lot of the guys who are cut are younger, and their future with Canada Soccer is more than just this World Cup. They have to use the moment, I think, to motivate them, and also use the feedback to continue to elevate themselves and give themselves a chance in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marsch has taken 10 midfielders, including Shaffelburg, Canada\u2019s \u201cMaritime Messi.\u201d It\u2019s a double gamble, beyond injury concerns. Shaffelburg was spectacular during Canada\u2019s inspiring Copa America run in 2024; he also effectively ended Canada\u2019s Gold Cup chances when he was sent off for a senseless shoulder charge against Guatemala.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, Copa was top of the world, I felt like, and then obviously Gold Cup was the lowest you can go,\u201d Shaffelburg said. \u201cI think it\u2019s made me a better player and a better human.\u201d<\/p>\n
WATCH | Jonathan David on team expectations:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1780119331_391_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Jonathan David on Canada\u2019s expectations at the World Cup<\/p>\n
Canadian men\u2019s national team star Jonathan David joins to discuss Canada\u2019s mindset heading into the World Cup.<\/p>\n
From the growth of the squad to expectations on home soil, David shares his thoughts on where this Canadian team stands and what success would look like on the biggest stage in soccer.<\/p>\n
Marsch has clearly forgiven Shaffelburg. He also has time to change his mind. If FIFA\u2019s medical committee agrees that a player is unfit, he can be replaced on the roster until 24 hours before a team\u2019s opening match. In Canada\u2019s case, that makes June 11 the more concrete 26-man deadline.<\/p>\n
With Shaffelburg, Alfie Jones, and Alphonso Davies all some version of delicate \u2014 Davies has missed the entire camp to continue treatment for his latest hamstring injury in Munich \u2014 Marsch has asked Nelson, Priso, and Bassong to travel with the team through next week\u2019s friendlies against Uzbekistan and Ireland. There\u2019s still a chance, however slim, for their fortunes to turn.<\/p>\n
But Daniel Jebbison is on the wrong side of the line that separates dreams from despair, and barring incredible drama, that\u2019s where he\u2019ll stay.<\/p>\n
He is Canada\u2019s 27th man.<\/p>\n
Canada’s final roster for World Cup:<\/p>\n
Goalkeepers: Maxime Cr\u00e9peau, Owen Goodman, Dayne St. Clair<\/p>\n
Defenders: Moise Bombito, Derek Cornelius, Alphonso Davies, Luc de Fougerolles, Alistair Johnston, Alfie Jones, Richie Laryea, Niko Sigur, Joel Waterman<\/p>\n
Midfielders: Ali Ahmed, Tajon Buchanan, Mathieu Choini\u00e8re, Stephen Eust\u00e1quio, Marcelo Flores, Ismael Kon\u00e9, Liam Millar, Jonathan Osorio, Nathan Saliba, Jacob Shaffelburg<\/p>\n
Forwards: Jonathan David, Promise David, Cyle Larin, Tani Oluwaseyi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris Jones reports on Canada’s World Cup team from Charlotte, N.C. On World Cup rosters, there is a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-703140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}