Canada coach Jesse Marsch hopes his team鈥檚 success at Copa America will have dual nationals thinking twice about playing for a different country.
Hired in May as John Herdman鈥檚 successor, Marsch helped Canada to a sensational run at the Copa 鈥� his first tournament as manager.
Canada defeated Venezuela on penalty kicks in the quarterfinal before falling 2-0 to eventual champions Argentina and Lionel Messi in the semis. The Canadians then gave heavily favoured Uruguay a run for their money in the consolation final, but lost 4-3 on penalties after giving up an injury-time equalizer to Luis Suarez.
鈥淢aybe some players were thinking that the opportunity to go to a different nation might be better because they might be able to compete more at the international level,鈥� Marsch said Tuesday at Centre Nutrilait, CF Montreal鈥檚 training facility. 鈥淚 think that now that we鈥檝e shown that we can compete, the recruitment process I think will hopefully be a little bit easier and cleaner.
鈥�(We can) say: 鈥楥ome to Canada and we can really make some big waves in the World Cup in 2026.鈥欌��
Canada gains automatic entry to the next World Cup as a co-host with the United States and Mexico. Marsch said he鈥檚 identified 鈥渦p to 10鈥� dual nationals to evaluate as he looks to build the strongest roster possible for 2026.
The 50-year-old American didn鈥檛 divulge any names, but that list likely includes striker Daniel Jebbison of Premier League side AFC Bournemouth, winger Luca Koleosho of England鈥檚 Burnley and fullback Mohamed Farsi of Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer, among others.
There鈥檚 also the case of Vancouver Whitecaps captain Ryan Gauld. The 28-year-old is a Scottish footballer but has not been cap-tied by the national team. He could apply for Canadian citizenship by 2025 and eventually get a call-up to Canada鈥檚 team.
Canada hasn鈥檛 always had success with dual nationals. Calgary-born Owen Hargreaves, a Champions League winner with European giants Bayern Munich and Manchester United, famously chose to play for England in the early 2000s after a snub from Canada鈥檚 under-17 team.
Toronto-born Jonathan de Guzman, the younger brother of former Canadian captain Julian de Guzman, played for the Netherlands after gaining citizenship there during his career. And Calgary-born defender Fikayo Tomori, currently with Italian side AC Milan, chose to play for England.
Helped also by getting to the 2022 World Cup, Canada has done a better job attracting dual nationals in recent years. The side Marsch is managing is full of them, including marquee Canadians Alphonso Davies (Liberia), Jonathan David (United States) and Stephen Eustaquio (Portugal).
Luc de Fougerolles, an 18-year-old born in England to a father from Montreal, won his first Canadian cap against Uruguay.
Marsch said he鈥檒l call on Canada Soccer general secretary and chief executive officer Kevin Blue and Canada鈥檚 top players to help recruit even more.
鈥淜evin Blue is here today and he is an incredible recruiter, as I learned in how he got me here,鈥� Marsch said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be calling on him and his experiences, I鈥檓 going to be doing some travelling and communicating, we鈥檙e asking some of our leaders in the team to also be part of the recruitment process.
鈥淲e鈥檙e identifying and then having the types of conversations to find the right kinds of players, dual nationals, to fit into what we鈥檙e doing moving forward.鈥�
Despite seeking to add players, Marsch said he put up a sign of 鈥�26 for 26鈥� 鈥� or 26 players for the 2026 World Cup 鈥� at the start of Copa to drive home that each player on his roster had a chance of being back.
鈥淓very player in that room at that time was in pole position,鈥� he said. 鈥淭heir job is to develop and to push themselves and to adapt, and to understand what my standards are for the team moving forward, and their job was to make sure that they didn鈥檛 let their position slip.
鈥淎 lot of the players in the time we had together developed and adapted incredibly well.鈥�
Marsch is also focused on discovering more players at home after witnessing little-known 24-year-old Mo茂se Bombito hold his own at centre back against some of the world鈥檚 best.
He said his 鈥渄ay job鈥� is to help make the national team better, but 鈥渕y passion project is to develop the sport in this country and create better infrastructure at youth levels, so that we鈥檙e developing players faster and better.鈥�
鈥淚t is unacceptable that a player like Mo茂se Bombito is not discovered until he鈥檚 23 years old,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e coached some of the best centre backs in the world. And this is what I told him 鈥� I鈥檝e coached (Dayot) Upamecano, (Ibrahima) Konate, (Josko) Gvardiol, and his talent level is in that category.
鈥淲e have to find a way as a Canadian soccer community, how to create better infrastructure 鈥� we鈥檝e got to be able to tilt the bar from players being identified and developed at 22, 23, 24 years old and be able to do it more at 16, 17, 18, 19 years old.鈥�
READ ALSO:
