Can cohosts Canada reach the knockout stages at World Cup 2026?

Canada are playing only their third World Cup, but have high hopes for a talented squad led by coach Jesse Marsch.

Previous World Cup appearances: 2 Best performance: Group stage (1986, 2022) First appearance: 1986 (Mexico) Top goal scorer: Alphonso Davies (1) Player to watch: Alphonso Davies FIFA world ranking: 30

Football participation overtook ice hockey in Canada in the 1990s, but it has taken time to turn passion into national team respectability.

The Canadians can measure their progress by the fact that they have frequently gotten the better of the United States lately, compiling a 4W-2L-3D record against them in their last nine matches. That is after they went 34 years (1985-2019) without a win over their closest rivals.

They are now playing successive World Cups – to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, they won the regional qualifying tournament ahead of Mexico and the USA, the cohosts of the 2026 edition.

The national team has players from Vancouver to Nova Scotia; from first- and second-generation urban immigrant communities – Francophone in Montreal; African, Caribbean, Mexican, South American in Toronto – as well as the hockey hotbeds in Alberta, home of full back Alphonso Davies.

Born in the Buduburam refugee camp in Ghana, Davies moved to Canada at the age of five and grew up in chilly Edmonton.

Now 25, Davies captains the Canucks and is the country’s most accomplished player. He played as a forward as a youngster and converted to left back after moving from the Vancouver Whitecaps to Bayern Munich in 2019.

After recovering from knee surgery last season, Davies suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain, and is a doubt for Canada’s opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto on June 12.

The Maple Leafs are counting on American coach Jesse Marsch, 52, who recently signed a contract extension through 2030. Marsch descends from the US’s most respected coaching tree, having played under Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley, and started his coaching career as a Bradley assistant with the USA at the 2010 World Cup.

Marsch’s club career has covered five countries – Austria, Canada, England, Germany and the US – and he has won titles in two, significant accomplishments for an American coach.

Along the way, he joined the Red Bull “family”, guiding Erling Haaland et al in Salzburg and assisting Ralf Rangnick at RB Leipzig before taking over as manager.

In England, Marsch kept Leeds United in the Premier League in 2021-22 but was fired, as the side finished