Jonathan David, Tajon Buchanan, and Cyle Larin headline the Canada men’s national team’s 25-man roster for upcoming World Cup qualifiers, which features a Matchday 10 showdown with the United States.
John Herdman will be without the services of star fullback Alphonso Davies after his complications from COVID-19, but still has plenty of talent to call upon this window. Canada, the octagonal round leaders, will open its schedule on January 27 at Honduras before hosting the USMNT in Hamilton on Jan. 30.
The Canadians will close out their schedule on Feb. 2 at El Salvador with hopes of remaining in the top three spots. Canada is seeking a first World Cup berth since 1986 and only a second berth in its history.
“We look forward to coming home and playing in front of our fans, they have made the difference every time,” said Herdman. “This will be a tough window, but we are strong and will embrace the challenges as we continue to take it one match at a time.”
Eustaquio’s inclusion is a strange one, especially since the attacking midfielder reportedly was set to miss out on qualifying after testing positive for COVID-19. The 25-year-old recently secured a loan move to Portuguese club FC Porto on Monday, making the jump to one of Europe’s well-known clubs.
Tajon Buchanan, Jonathan David and Cyle Larin will headline the attacking front for Canada while Junior Hoilett and Lucas Cavallini have also been included. Seven MLS players have been named to the Canadians roster including midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye, Jonathan Osorio, and Samuel Piette.
Canada remains the only Concacaf nation to not suffer defeat through its opening eight qualifiers, posting a 4-0-4 record and a group-best +8 goal differential.
Here is the full 25-player Canada roster:
Canada World Cup qualifying roster
GOALKEEPERS: Milan Borjan, Maxime Crepeau, Jayson Leutwiler.
DEFENDERS: Kamal Miller, Alistair Johnston, Derek Cornelius, Doneil Henry, Scott Kennedy, Kamal Miller, Steven Vitoria, Samuel Adekugbe, Cristián Gutierrez, Alistair Johnston, Richie Laryea.
MIDFIELDERS: Stephen Eustáquio, Liam Fraser, Atiba Hutchinson, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Jonathan Osorio, Samuel Piette.
FORWARDS: Tajon Buchanan, Lucas Cavallini, Jonathan David, Junior Hoilett, Cyle Larin, Liam Millar, Iké Ugbo.
It seems Eustáquio may have passed Covid protocol, which certainly strengthens Canada’s roster for the 30th. But Canada has other issues: No Davies, FLA training camp cancelled, and 2 long trips to Central America sandwiched between the US game. It will be interesting to see how Herdman manages the roster given the need for obtain points over 3 games, and a lack of match fitness compared to the US roster.
For the US, match fitness should not be an issue. For the Euro-based players, it looks like only Aaronson isn’t playing league games with Austria still on break, and the MLS players had a camp. The main concern is really just some fatigue with a couple players, with McKennie in particular playing a lot of minutes the last couple of weeks. But one would think the US does not need McKennie to go the full 90 against El Salvador in the first game.
9 points is really attainable in this three game window.
Austria may be on break from league play, but I believe that the clubs are playing friendlies; so Aaronson should be as fit (if not more) than the MLS players.
The new report of Steffen struggling with back stiffness is a minor worry, but only in that Turner hasn’t been been in an actual game since December so match sharpness maybe a little lower than we’d like.
Both the Canadian & US Manager have to determine how they’re going to approach this window. Do they go full strength rosters against the 2 weaker opponents to secure 6 points….and maybe play for the draw against each other or do they us a hybrid roster for the weaker opponents and go full strength against each other?
The only concern I have is that Gregg is stubborn and may try to roll out his favorites (Lletget, Roldan, Acosta, Arriola, & Zardes) and play them all together in one of the matches…similar to what he fielded in Panama. If he does use them altogether again we can expect the same struggles/results.