Friendly might not be the right word.
Canada's men's soccer team will take on the U.S. in an exhibition match on Tuesday in Saint Paul, Minn., but coach Jesse Marsch has already stoked the flames of the rivalry.
In an interview with The Guardian, the American-born Marsch dished on the overturned Folarin Balogun suspension that sparked controversy at the World Cup and allowed the U.S. star to play a Round of 16 match against Belgium.
"This is why everyone around the world hates America," Marsch said. "That was proven to be so. The U.S. had had a good World Cup, was doing well. All that switched in one moment. But do I think that that’s about corruption and unfairness? The problem is, football is inundated with this kind of stuff."
"We, as Americans, have been inundated with propaganda since we were young," continued Marsch, the Racine, Wisc., native. "We’re the No. 1 country in the world, we deserve everything, we dominate everything, No. 1 in every aspect of life. This is what we’ve been told. So, when things happen and we don’t feel like we’re in control of it … we feel like we deserve to be treated differently because we’re Americans. That is one of the things that infuriates the rest of the world about Americans. And Americans don’t know that if they don’t ever leave the country."
Like the U.S., which dropped that game against Belgium 4-1, Canada was also eliminated in the World Cup Round of 16 after a 3-0 loss to Morocco.
The North American foes and World Cup co-hosts last met each other in March 2025, when Canada beat the U.S. 2-1 in the Concacaf Nations League third-place game in Los Angeles. The Canadians also won the previous matchup in September 2024, 2-1 in Kansas City.
Canada is coming off a pair of clean sheets in this international window, having beaten Chile 1-0 and Peru 2-0 on home soil in its first matches since the World Cup. The Americans are likewise unbeaten in this window, having taken down Peru, Chile and Mexico.
Marsch, a former Premier League coach for Leeds, also commented on the Manchester City spending scandal rocking English soccer.
"I think Man City should be punished severely. I think they should have to go down, and, by the way, everyone knew about it. Everyone knew," Marsch said.
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