Oh, so close for Canada.
Sitting on a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Ismaël Koné and Jonathan David, the Canadian men’s team was mere minutes away from defeating Uruguay in Saturday’s third-place match at the Copa América in Charlotte.
A victory would have been a historic result for Canada, capping off what has been a sensational run for coach Jesse Marsch’s side at the prestigious international tournament. But Luis Suarez had other ideas. The former Liverpool and FC Barcelona striker came off the bench to score deep into injury time to level the score at 2-2, and then converted from the spot to help lift his country to a 4-3 penalty shootout win in the third-place match.
David, Moïse Bombito and Mathieu Choinière made their kicks for Canada, while Koné saw his stutter-step attempt saved by goalkeeper Sergio Rochet, and captain Alphonso Davies’ fifth and final penalty struck the crossbar. The heartbreaking loss doesn’t diminish Canada’s amazing achievement of reaching the final four. Nor does it negate the many positives from the Canadians at this competition.
Here are the main takeaways from Canada’s performance at the 2024 Copa América.
Jesse Marsch shows faith in youth, expands player pool
Jesse Marsch has a well-established reputation for giving young players chances during his coaching career at the club level.
“That’s something that I’ve always enjoyed about coaching, is really challenging young players to be at their best,” Marsch told Sportsnet shortly after his appointment in mid-May.
While Canada has a solid core of experienced international players that it has relied upon for the past two to three years, Marsch identified expanding the player pool as one of his top priorities ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup that Canada will co-host.
Centre backs Moïse Bombito and Derek Cornelius barely featured for Canada under former coach John Herdman. But Marsch made them his starting central defensive duo at the Copa América, and they repaid that faith with a series of outstanding showings. There’s little doubt that Bombito (24) and Cornelius (26) will now be expected to anchor Canada’s backline for years to come.
Likewise, winger Jacob Shuffleburg was largely overlooked by Herdman. The 24-year-old native of Nova Scotia, nicknamed the “Maritimes Messi,” started out as a substitute at the Copa América before earning a starting role. He scored one goal and set up another, and his dynamic attacking displays made him one of the competition’s breakout stars.
Midfielder Ismaël Koné had to patiently serve as an understudy to more experienced players on the team since making his international debut in 2022. The 22-year-old, who recently earned a transfer to top French club Olympic Marseille, used the Copa América to firmly establish himself as veteran Stephen Eustáquio’s partner in the heart of midfield with his composed showings at the competition.
Marsch also gave valuable minutes to defender Ali Ahmed (23), midfielder Mathieu Choinière (25), and forwards Tani Oluwaseyi (24), Theo Bair (24) and Jacen Russell-Rowe (21), and handed defender Luc De Fougerolles (18) his first start in only his second international cap against Uruguay.
Gap still exists for Canada, but it took a big step forward
Every decision from Jesse Marsch since taking over as coach of the Canadian men’s team has been made with the 2026 FIFA World Cup in mind. Canada doesn’t want a repeat of the 2022 tournament in Qatar when it was eliminated from contention with one match to spare in the group stage and it failed to win all three of its games. It also doesn’t want to be simply known as a hospitable and friendly host.
Canada is aiming to be a competitive force on home soil when it welcomes the world in two years’ time. Marsch’s side took a major step towards achieving that goal with their fantastic run and fourth-place finish in its Copa América debut, despite being one of the lowest-ranked nations in the 16-nation tournament.
On two occasions, Canada went toe-to-toe with Lionel Messi and Argentina, pushing the reigning World Cup champions to their limits. Group stage matches against Chile and Peru were physical affairs that more closely resembled street fights, and were blighted by some poor refereeing decisions that went against Canada. Yet, Marsch’s men kept their composure, remained focused and didn’t lose their discipline as they stayed above the fray in earning important results that secured their spot in the knockout round.
Against Venezuela, Canada held its nerve in a tense penalty shootout against one of the rising teams in South American soccer, and it gave Uruguay a hard time on Saturday, forcing the 15-time Copa América to come from behind. The Canadians did all of this while playing in front of hostile South American crowds in what were essentially road games for them.
Canada grew up and matured at this tournament and proved that it can compete against the world’s best. Is there still a gap for the Concacaf upstarts to close in top-tier nations? Yes. A failure to defend a lead against Uruguay cost them a third-place finish, while their lack of finishing led to their ruination in both losses against Argentina.
But the Canadians held their own at the Copa América, earning the respect of its South American peers and forcing the rest of the world to stand up and take notice of them.
Finishing off goal scoring chances remains an issue
Scoring remains an issue for Canada that Jesse Marsch will look to address ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Notwithstanding a two-goal effort against Uruguay in Saturday’s third-place match, Canada only scored two other times in the tournament in a 1-0 win over Peru in the group stage and a 1-1 draw against Venezuela in the quarter-finals.
Canada’s big attacking guns all had good looks on goal at key moments in games. But all-time top scorer Cyle Larin, Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies and Tajon Buchanan (before he suffered a tournament-ending injury) were wasteful in front of goal and failed to bury their chances. Even Jonathan David, who scored twice, lacked ruthlessness in and around the penalty area as he squandered a number of quality scoring opportunities.
The Canadians’ slender 1-0 win over Peru in the group stage could have been far more comfortable had they been more clinical with their finishing. The same can be said about Canada’s draw against Chile in the group stage against Chile and its penalty shootout victory over Venezuela in the quarterfinals.
Chance creation wasn’t the problem for the Canadians; it was burying those goal-scoring opportunities that proved beyond them at times.
The talent in the final third of the pitch is there for Canada. So many of the team’s forwards and wingbacks have it within them to turn the game on its head with a moment of attacking brilliance. But somehow, Marsch has to find a way to draw it out of his top players and get them to produce on a more consistent basis, including Davies who somewhat underwhelmed at this tournament.
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.
