Canada hoping to make the most of friendly windows ahead of World Cup

It’s getting very serious for the Canadian men’s team with the 2026 FIFA World Cup just nine months away.

As co-host, Canada’s place at the World Cup is secured, as it doesn’t have to go through the gruelling Concacaf qualification process. But that’s also a double-edged sword as the Canadians will only play 10 exhibition games across five FIFA-sanctioned windows ahead of the World Cup. 

That’s why Canada’s upcoming matches vs. Romania (Friday in Bucharest) and Wales (next Tuesday in Swansea) are so important. Time is short, and competitive games are few and far between, so Canada has to make the most of the few opportunities it has to come together as a team in order to properly prepare for the World Cup. 

Canada is 28th in the FIFA world rankings (its highest ever ranking), sitting above both Wales (No. 31) and Romania (No. 48). Canada and Romania have never previously faced each other. Canada has a record of one win and two losses vs. Wales, including a 1-0 defeat in their previous encounter on May 30, 2004, in Wrexham.   

Here are four important storylines to watch for from the Canadian men’s team during September’s FIFA international window. 

Canada looks to rebound after disappointing Gold Cup 

Much was expected of Canada at this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup. 

Jesse Marsch’s side entered the continental competition as one of the favourites, and the team lived up to that billing when it put the hammer down in a 6-0 win over Honduras in its opening match in Vancouver. But things quickly turned sour for Les Rouges, who were held to a 0-0 draw by lowly Curaçao in their next match.  

A scrappy 2-0 win over El Salvador allowed Canada to finish atop their group, but Marsch’s men hardly distinguished themselves against their Central American opponents and looked to have stumbled into the knockout round by default. An anemic attacking display resulted in a shocking penalty shootout loss to Guatemala, which forced Canada to exit the tournament in the quarter-final stage. 

“We fell short in some areas. And I’ve tried to talk very openly about that; about how disappointed we were to lose in the quarter-finals,” Marsch said when he announced his 24-man roster last week. 

It’ll be interesting to see how Canada rebounds from that disappointment and whether it can put it firmly behind itself while focusing on a pair of challenging games in Europe. 

“I think this strategy is the right strategy for this moment. These two opponents are very strong and will present very unique challenges to us, but ones where we feel like we should be able to be successful,” Marsch said. 

Maxime Crépeau or Dayne S. Clair: Who is Canada’s No. 1 goalkeeper? 

One of the biggest questions about the Canadian men’s team right now is who will be the starting goalkeeper at next year’s FIFA World Cup. 

Maxime Crépeau (26 caps) was brilliant at last summer’s Copa América and played a key role in helping Canada reach the semifinals in its tournament debut. But he’s been dogged by injuries since then and he hasn’t been a regular starter for the Portland Timbers in MLS this season. 

Dayne St. Clair (15 caps) has less international experience than Crépeau, but he’s played more than twice as many times for Canada as his counterpart since the Copa América. He also ranks among the league leaders in shutouts in MLS this season as a starter with Minnesota United. 

Marsch revealed on Thursday that both goalkeepers will get a start during the September window, while making it clear that the starter’s job for the World Cup has yet to be decided. 

«They know that the competition is alive and well,» Marsch stated. «They’ve handled it incredibly well … It’s an important window for both of those goalkeepers, but we know we will get the best out of both of them.» 

Marsch went on to say that picking who’ll start in goal for Canada next summer will be «one of my most difficult and important decisions for the team.”

It’s a decision that could be made a lot easier or more difficult for him based on what happens in these next two games.

A possible Canadian debut for Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 

Jesse Marsch’s latest squad includes 21 players who featured at the Gold Cup. But there are also some new faces in goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert and fullback Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty.   

Marshall-Rutty, 21, has flourished while on loan at Charlotte FC in MLS, recording three assists during the 2025 campaign. He’s also set personal bests in terms of starts (15) and minutes played (1,449) in a single season after seeing limited opportunities with Toronto FC and CF Montreal earlier in his career. 

A teenage Marshall-Rutty received his first call-up to the senior national team in 2021 but is still waiting to earn his first cap for Canada. Given Marsch’s track record of giving young players chances, coupled with the defensive injuries that Canada is dealing with at the moment, the native of Brampton, Ont., could earn his first taste of international action this month. 

«We have issues on our back line with injuries [Alphonso Davies, Moïse Bombito, Alistair Johnston, Sam Adekugbe]. As a national team staff, (we’re) evaluating where, what are the potentials of players, what are their form and fitness, who looks like they can start to maybe push themselves into the picture a little bit more? And Jahkeele has made a great case for himself down in Charlotte. They’re in a really good way, winning a lot of matches lately,» Marsch said. 

He later added, «[Marshall-Rutty has] shown some flexibility. He’s been very confident. He’s playing more aggressively. He’s doing a lot of things that fit with the way we want to play, but I think when he comes to camp, we need to push him. We need to challenge him to meet the standard that we think exists within our national team, and then we’ll see how he responds.” 

Canada searching for a rare road win against a European opponent 

Road victories against European nations have been rare for the Canadian men’s team. 

Not since it recorded a 1-0 decision over Belarus in a friendly on March 29, 2011, in Türkiye has Canada beaten a team from Europe on European soil. 

Since 2020, the Canadians have largely gone up against Concacaf opponents and have only played European nations on six occasions — its lone victory came in June when it defeated Ukraine 4-2 in Toronto. 

Canada won’t have the luxury of facing off against teams from the Concacaf region in the group stage of next year’s World Cup. Instead, it’ll have to overcome nations from other top confederations in order to advance to the knockout round, so the September window provides Marsch’s side a chance to test themselves against two quality European teams who are currently involved in World Cup qualifying. 

“In the moment, even thinking about winning on European soil, which is something that we haven’t done since 2011, it’s another kind of feather in the cap in our overall journey to prepare ourselves for the World Cup next summer,” Marsch said. 

“We know that Romania and Wales are very good teams that are fighting right now with everything to get to the World Cup, but we are treating these matches like real preparation.”