VANCOUVER — For the first time during the 2026 World Cup, Canada’s players got wet.
Vancouver, a city with skies known for its rainy fall and winter, seemed to shed a tear as the Canadian men’s national team bid adieu to its base camp, raining for the first time during this World Cup.
After coming up short against Switzerland in the final Group B game, Canada’s home World Cup came to a disheartening end. Instead of playing up to two home knockout games, they departed for the United States.
On Sunday, Canada will play its first World Cup knockout game in men’s soccer history, and while Vancouver’s sky may have darkened on their final day, there are good vibes and plenty of hope with Les Rouges as they prepare to take on No. 60-ranked South Africa.
“We would have loved to stay in Vancouver ... but at the same time, if you told us a month ago that we were going to finish second in this group, I would have shaken your hand for that,” said defender Alistair Johnston, after quipping that the vibe felt weird after the Switzerland loss, instead of the celebratory mood it could have been given Canada’s first World Cup advancement.
“I think a lot of the fans in Canada, who have a good knowledge of soccer and have followed the team, know how big finishing second place in a World Cup group is. I don’t care if it’s the home World Cup or if the World Cup was being played on Mars. It’s an unbelievable result.”
Leaving the Home World Cup Circus
While South Africa’s upset result against South Korea offers Canada an easier draw than expected — albeit not one they can take for granted, given its struggles in big games—the switch to the U.S. might not be such a bad thing.
Unlike the USMNT, which has gotten increasingly favorable crowds in home tournaments and friendlies over the past few years, Canada simply doesn’t play many matches at home. Between the 2022 World Cup and the 2026 tournament, only 13 matches were on Canadian soil.
As much as the players and staff hyped up the crowd and said they wanted to stay in Vancouver, might there be a hidden advantage to playing away from the spotlight?
Jonathan David, not usually one to reveal much insight, said “the fact we’re playing at home almost makes it like it’s not a World Cup,” and that “the feeling of scoring in Vancouver is something I’ve done in the past,” after he scored three goals in the country’s first men’s World Cup victory against Qatar.
🇨🇦HERE COMES CANADA!
— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) June 24, 2026
10:00am on a Wednesday and the March to the Match is in full force ahead of #CanMNT vs Switzerland.
Plenty of #8 signs for Ismaël Koné. pic.twitter.com/AUj9IJJc49
And Jesse Marsch, the passionate manager who, despite his best efforts not to become the face of the team, will be more than ever in the U.S., even admitted that it could be good to get away from the spotlight of the Canadian public, as much as the following will continue at home.
For a team that has never dealt with this type of focus, scrutiny or fanfare, the pressure might have been a burden, contributing to the slow starts against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Switzerland. The home match stay ended with Marsch telling his players to “wake the f--k up” after the group stage finale, according to striker Promise David.
At the start of this whole journey, the 52-year-old manager brought the team to Charlotte, North Carolina, for pre-friendly training camps.
There, Canada focused on training in the heat but, importantly, didn’t put up many banners in the hotel, as “calm” became the group's slogan. Sunday, and the rest of the run, will be the most-watched Canadian soccer games in history, but the players won’t have to confront those tensions—and maybe that’s good.
“As much as we've really enjoyed the home crowd ... I think even our team has been physically and mentally pushed to limits, and I think we need three days to be calm and to focus,” Marsch said Thursday, adding that the team kicks Canada Soccer video crews out of the locker room for emotional discussion.
“[Now] It's going to be about recovery, rehabilitation and re-energizing to really go again in the biggest game that we've had as a program.”
The Alphonso Davies Mystery
If there’s one thing about Marsch, it’s that he is methodical to a fault. While the home advantage and local pressure ramped up, he told fans and the media that star left back and captain Alphonso Davies would play against Qatar and Switzerland. After the Switzerland loss, he admitted Davies was a “decoy” and was “never going to play.”
He’s said that Davies will play against South Africa, but there’s no reason to believe him anymore.
It’s far from the whole story, though. Davies, as much as he has made strides in his recovery, has continued to work with an independent German trainer, Mathias Blankenburg, in training sessions, while easing his way into full training with the team.
The #CanMNT’s last day in Vancouver and their first in the rain before heading to LA for 🇿🇦
— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) June 26, 2026
Davies in deep conversation with Jesse Marsch, alongside his personal trainer to start off.
The Canada Soccer branding around the ad boards has been taken down. pic.twitter.com/AeFlsYE8W8
The cloudy storyline serves as a cover for other questions facing the Canadian group—and Marsch is putting himself under fire, even as some of the goodwill he had built over the past two years withers away.
“As much as I’d love to give you guys all the inside information, we are trying to win a tournament here,” Johnston added when asked whether players were being kept in the dark as part of Marsch’s dark arts. “Most teams in sports keep some cards close to their chest. So, we’ll see if he’s ready to play this Sunday, but yeah, that’s still up in the air.”
In reality, Davies isn’t the type of player who will make this Canadian team unbeatable. He might be the most talented player and biggest draw, but since he last played for Les Rouges in March 2025, Canada has taken strides without him.
Embracing Being the Favorite
Davies or not, it is rare for Canada to be a genuine favorite.
One of those occasions ended in a 1–1 draw with Curaçao in the 2025 Gold Cup group stage, before crashing out of the tournament on penalties against Guatemala, all after a disheartening Concacaf Nations League semifinal loss to Mexico at the same stadium it’ll play at Sunday.
Against South Africa, Canada has to be clinical, and there isn’t any room for error or a strong performance that ultimately ends in defeat. It’s the most important game in Canadian soccer history, with a chance to be the biggest result, with an everlasting impact on the game in the country.
Much of that could come down to a big performance from Jonathan David, an improved showing from Tajon Buchanan, a potential start for Promise David and the health questions around vice-captain Stephen Eustàquio and Davies. Each of them will have to step up.
While Vancouver may have wept as the team departed stateside, the dream of a Canadian World Cup run is more alive than ever. Now, they have to go out and grab it.
