{"id":782649,"date":"2026-07-05T22:49:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T22:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/782649\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T22:49:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T22:49:17","slug":"canada-has-shown-growth-through-this-world-cup-but-theres-still-work-to-be-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/782649\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada has shown growth through this World Cup, but there\u2019s still work to be done"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada fans were disappointed with their team’s round of 16 loss to Morocco on Saturday, but there is optimism from Canada’s players about what the squad could do at the 2030 World Cup.Frank Gunn\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Whoever Jesse Marsch thinks was the better team on Saturday, the fact remains that when the occasion required decisive moments, it wasn\u2019t Canada that delivered.<\/p>\n

Instead, it\u2019s Morocco moving on to Thursday\u2019s quarter-final with France, after a 3-0 victory in Houston<\/a> that highlighted the gulf in game-breaking talent between the two sides. <\/p>\n

Case in point: Soccer analytics site FotMob has seven Moroccan players graded with higher scores in the match than the leading Canadian, Stephen Eust\u00e1quio. But that\u2019s not all that surprising.<\/p>\n

Marsch can point to industrial markers like Eust\u00e1quio leading the way with 11.95 kilometres of distance covered, or Tajon Buchanan forcing a game-high 12 turnovers, or Jonathan David pressing more than anyone else.<\/p>\n

But when it comes to the sharp end of the pitch, as well as tournament soccer, it was Morocco showing how it\u2019s done. The African champions converted three of their four shots on target through a brace from Azzedine Ounahi and Soufiane Rahimi adding another in injury time. Canada was 0-for-3 in the same metric.<\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: Alphonso Davies’s confusing absence costs Canada when it mattered most<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cGoals change games,\u201d Marsch admitted after the match. \u201cAnd then they can sit back a little bit more, we have to find ways to push a little bit, and then it winds up being two, and then a third at the end, but \u2026 the overall impact in the match, we were better than the No. 7 team in the world today.\u201d<\/p>\n

While that view was challenged by his opposite number \u2013 \u201cIt takes some nerve to say that when you\u2019re losing 3-0,\u201d Mohamed Ouahbi said via a translator \u2013 the challenge for Canada now is to deepen its talent pool in all areas of the pitch. The non-availability of its best player, Alphonso Davies, for much of the competition was hardly ideal, and the other players that Canada would have been looking to for inspiration, Tajon Buchanan and Jonathan David \u2013 save for his hat trick against Qatar \u2013 were largely irrelevant.<\/p>\n

While the tournament has largely been a success for the men\u2019s program \u2013 first point, first win, first knockout victory \u2013 Canada was helped by being a seeded team as one of the three co-hosts. The average FIFA ranking of the opponents it faced up to the round of 16 was 49.8, the highest number among the 16 teams, meaning an easier path through the tournament on paper. <\/p>\n

Still, Canada beat the teams it was expected to beat, and lost to teams that were better than them, according to the rankings. Turning those defeats into more positive results is the challenge heading into the next cycle.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Stephen Eust\u00e1quio (7) and the Canadian team provided some big moments in their first-ever games in the World Cup’s knockout round. Eust\u00e1quio said that some of the 17 and 18-year-old players who watched this World Cup will have to step in and help in 2030.Fran Santiago\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that we were able to be one of the 16 best teams of this World Cup, I think, is amazing for the country,\u201d Eust\u00e1quio said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing for this team, but we have to start from there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re realizing that the gap isn\u2019t that big, that we have to fight, but hopefully we can get good matches during these four years that can really prepare us for the next World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

That tournament, which will be jointly held in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco \u2013 with three matches in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile to celebrate the World Cup\u2019s centenary \u2013 will also require a successful qualifying campaign.<\/p>\n

The good news for Canada is the age range of some of the players already in the squad, young men who will be depended upon from here on out. Luc de Fougerolles played in all five games \u2013 and is listed as the fifth-best defender in the tournament according to FIFA\u2019s power rankings \u2013 and is just 20, the youngest player in Canada\u2019s squad. <\/p>\n

Niko Sigur and Nathan Saliba are 22, while Isma\u00ebl Kon\u00e9 \u2013 who saw his campaign cruelly cut short with a broken leg \u2013 has time on his side, having featured in his second World Cup at 24 years of age. And then there\u2019s 22-year-old winger Marcelo Flores, whose hopes were ended on the eve of the tournament with an ACL tear.<\/p>\n

Wistful fans thank Canada’s World Cup squad for energizing the country<\/a><\/p>\n

But more talent will be required. Alistair Johnston is hoping that Canada\u2019s accomplishments here can help grease the wheels, inspiring today\u2019s 17- and 18-year-olds to want to be part of the experience in 2030.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, that\u2019s going to add competition, but that\u2019s that we need,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to continue to build the top-end talent and the depth of this program, and that\u2019s something that\u2019s a challenge, not just for the coaches back home, the senior players to continue to lead and bring young players in, but also our coaching staff. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s something that we\u2019re going to need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The expectation now for Canada is that it can translate the excitement of the past few months into something tangible for the near and long-term future. Part of that will be realized with the construction of Canada Soccer\u2019s national training centre, which the organization describes as the \u201ccornerstone legacy project\u201d arising from this country\u2019s role as a World Cup co-host. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

At club level, the future of both the Vancouver Whitecaps and CF Montreal needs to be sorted out, while the Canadian Premier League \u2013 with eight teams in five provinces \u2013 needs to show it can bear fruit by bringing young players through. It also needs to shore itself up financially, with two teams having folded through the league\u2019s first eight seasons.<\/p>\n

But all those are part of the growing pains of any country looking to expand its footprint in the global game. The 2026 World Cup has provided the momentum, and it\u2019s now up to Canadians to carry it forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re finally a soccer country, man, we need this support to go forward,\u201d Eust\u00e1quio told TSN seconds after Canada\u2019s tournament ended. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to enter another cycle of four years. The youngsters here, they need your support throughout the four years so we make sure we can go even further at the next World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Canada fans were disappointed with their team’s round of 16 loss to Morocco…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":782650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-782649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782649","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=782649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=782649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=782649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}