Elsewhere, Alistair Johnston\u2019s return from a hamstring injury was delayed after a setback with Canada in March. Stephen Eust\u00e1quio last played March 7 before suffering a blood clot in his leg. Luc de Fougerolles will soon return from an ankle injury.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2268522946-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Dayne St. Clair is locked in a battle for Canada\u2019s starting goalkeeper spot. (Anatoliy Cherkasov \/ Informa Plus Photo Agency \/ LightRocket \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the biggest thing manager your manager needs to sort out before the tournament kicks off?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who starts in goal? You could quibble over whether Davies starts at left midfield or left back, but the question that continued to hang over Canada\u2019s March international window was the uncertainty in between the posts.<\/p>\n
Neither Dayne St. Clair nor Maxime Cr\u00e9peau has truly grabbed the starting position with their respective MLS struggles. Canada\u2019s coaching staff had hoped one would have emerged as a clear starter by March.<\/p>\n
Each offers different strengths, but Canada won\u2019t split starts in the World Cup either. The time is ticking for one to make Marsch\u2019s mind up for him. Perhaps a head-to-head meeting May 2 in MLS will be the difference-maker.<\/p>\n
If you picked a starting XI today who would be in it? \u00a0<\/p>\n
(4-4-2, right to left) <\/p>\n
Dayne St. Clair; Richie Laryea, Mo\u00efse Bombito, Derek Cornelius, Alphonso Davies; Tajon Buchanan, Stephen Eust\u00e1quio, Isma\u00ebl Kon\u00e9, Ali Ahmed; Cyle Larin, Jonathan David\u00a0<\/p>\n
What are the key storylines around Bosnia and Herzegovina?<\/p>\n
Can Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to play with house money and upset another favorite?<\/p>\n
The Balkan nation\u2019s win on penalties over Italy was a World Cup qualifying shock for the ages. They played intelligent, compact soccer against a side with far more stars and showed no sign of nerves throughout. It\u2019s not what you\u2019d expect from a country that\u2019s qualified for just one World Cup before, in 2014. They should now show no more nerves as they continue their journey through North America. What\u2019s the sense of changing how they play now?<\/p>\n
The idea is simple: keep moving forward with the hopes of upsetting teams along the way. Maintaining that same underdog mentality and avoiding any sense of external pressure could lead to another upset, even as the visiting nation for a cohost\u2019s opener.<\/p>\n
Warm-up games: TBC<\/p>\n
What are the key storylines around Qatar?<\/p>\n
Can Qatar show enough quality to fight for third?<\/p>\n
Yes, Qatar reached for the World Cup for the second time, with its first as host nation four years ago. But its qualifying campaign was not always a pretty sight: in the third round of AFC qualifying, Qatar made it to the next round with a -7 goal differential through 10 games and allowed 24 goals, the most of the 18 teams in that round. Let\u2019s not forget, Qatar finished 32nd of 32 teams on home soil in 2022.<\/p>\n
Nearly all of Qatar\u2019s players feature in the Qatar Stars League. There\u2019s just not enough game-breaking talent to suggest it could mount a serious threat to any one of the other teams in Group B. Even if it grinds out points, the possibility of a heavy negative goal-differential from the game against Switzerland could threaten any chance Qatar has of going through, even as a third-place side.<\/p>\n
Warm-up games: TBC<\/p>\n
What are the key storylines around Switzerland?<\/p>\n
Can this tactically astute and reliable side finally win a knockout round game?<\/p>\n
Since 1938, the Swiss have never won a crucial game after the group stage. In the last three World Cups, they have been bounced in the round of 16. They\u2019re one of the better sides in the field (ranked 19th by FIFA) and certainly feel on the cusp of climbing into that upper echelon. There may never be a more advantageous time to take the leap.<\/p>\n
They certainly have to feel fortunate drawing Canada, the lowest-ranked Pot 1 team in December\u2019s draw, in their group. That makes Switzerland the favorite to not just get out of Group B, but to top it. Then, they\u2019d play a third-place team from another group. They need that knockout-round win to elevate their global status.<\/p>\n
Warm-up games:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jordan, May 31
\nAustralia, June 6
\nWhen and where are the World Cup group games?Is there anything traveling fans need to know?<\/p>\n
Canada could end up offering a respite from the potential chaos that could develop at some American World Cup host cities. Transportation to and from Canada\u2019s two World Cup venues appears plentiful and cheap. Both cities will likely offer a safe and comfortable experience for fans. And the summer heat promises to not be nearly as punishing in Canada as it will be in some southern US cities.<\/p>\n
So, you want drama as a fan traveling to follow Canada? As of right now, it seems unlikely you\u2019ll find it north of the border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s not just that the first men\u2019s World Cup game in Canada is around the corner. A potential…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7039,17,7724,5429,7723,359,541,205,6371,7722],"class_list":{"0":"post-14528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-bosnia-herzegovina","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","11":"tag-international-football","12":"tag-mexico-mens-national-team","13":"tag-mls","14":"tag-qatar","15":"tag-soccer","16":"tag-switzerland","17":"tag-us-mens-national-team"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}