Copa America: MLS, fueling Canada’s success and growth

Among the many golden stories that Copa America holds as the longest-running national team tournament, this chapter that Canada is writing for itself in its first participation, is noteworthy.

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The Canadians are now the only Concacaf team out of the six invited, that remain, making it through to the semifinal stage.

Going in, the U.S. and Mexico, long-time leaders of the confederation, were considered the teams that would go the furthest. This performance by Canada is a highlight in their national team history.

Part of the key to their success, is Major League Soccer (MLS), a league that has been known in recent years for the great development of its American players, and the Canadians are not far behind.

Canada, bets on MLS in Copa America

Canada included 14 MLS players on its roster for Copa America, as the team with the most players by far called up from this league, with names now in Europe’s sights such as Moïse Bombito and Jacob Shaffelburg.

Following is a list of MLS players and their teams:

• Maxime Crépeau (Goalkeeper, Portland Timbers)
• Dayne St. Clair (Goalkeeper, Minnesota United FC)
• Kamal Miller (Defense, Portland Timbers)
• Joel Waterman (Defense, CF Montreal)
• Kyle Hiebert (Defense, St. Louis CITY SC)
• Richie Laryea (Defense, Toronto FC)
• Moïse Bombito (Defense, Colorado Rapids)
• Mathieu Choinière (Midfielder, CF Montreal)
• Jonathan Osorio (Midfielder, Toronto FC)
• Ali Ahmed (Midfielder, Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
• Samuel Piette (Midfielder, CF Montreal)
• Jacob Shaffelburg (Forward, Nashville SC)
• Tani Oluwaseyi (Forward, Minnesota United FC)
• Jacen Russell-Rowe (Forward, Columbus Crew)

These are in addition players who also developed in the league, such as star Alphonso Davies, who started with Vancouver Whitecaps and today is one of the best left-backs in Europe playing for Bayern Munich.

There is also Tajon Buchanan who arrived at Inter Milan in 2024 as the first Canadian to play in Serie A where he was champion in his first season.

Jesse Marsch, an ideal coach

To get the best performance from these players, there also needs to be a top notch coach, and Canada found it in Jesse March with the support of several MLS teams that worked together to put his name on the table for the Canadian Federation.

According to various reports, given the economic situation of the Canadian Federation, Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps and CF Montreal, in addition to other contributors, banded together to finance the coach’s salary, as well as other areas of development for Canadian soccer.

Marsch, who coached Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls, has responded with good performances to continue the momentum the team has been experiencing since the qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, when Canada, under John Herdman, made it to the top of CONCACAF over the United States and Mexico.

They were however unable to catapult with that historic step to the World Cup after being eliminated in the group stage and going out without earning a single point.

Now, with Marsch at head of the bench, they are once again finding the best version of themselves with an attractive style of play, that was at first complicated for Argentina to figure out in the tournament opening match, despite the 0-2 defeat.

The upcoming challenge of facing the defending Copa America and World Champion again at this stage of the tournament, is a big one for Canada, but not impossible, and no matter what happens, this team can feel “satisfied” with framing a promising future for the next 2026 World Cup, where they will be hosts along with Mexico and the United States.