Canadian men brought back down to earth after loss to Australia

MONTREAL – A pair of historic wins in Europe last month swelled the Canadian men’s team’s sails as it continued to successfully navigate its way through some choppy waters and across the horizon towards the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 

Back-to-back shutouts against Romania in Bucharest and Wales in Swansea represented Canada’s first victories on European soil against European opponents in more than 14 years. But the Canadians were brought back down to earth in Friday’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Australia in another high-profile friendly at Stade Saputo. 

This loss was a sobering reminder to Canada, ranked No. 26 in the world by FIFA, of the greater challenges that await at next summer’s World Cup that it will co-host with the United States and Mexico. Winning friendlies against lower-ranked European teams is one thing – Wales is No. 30, Romania is 51st. Winning games against a World Cup-bound nation is quite another, a lesson the Canadians learned in their loss to Australia, which is ranked 25th in the world. 

While Romania and Wales are still slogging their way through the European qualifiers, Australia clinched its six consecutive World Cup berth in June and entered Friday’s contest riding a six-game winning streak and an 11-match unbeaten run dating back to its previous loss on Sept. 5, 2024. The difference in the quality was stark, the Australians giving the Canadians just a small taste of what they can expect at the World Cup when the ante will be significantly upped, and the opposition will be much stronger.  

It was a professional road performance from the Socceroos, whose defensive quality shone through on a cool night in Montreal before a sold-out crowd that included Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The Australians defended in low block, their five-man back line keeping a lid on forwards Jonathan David and Cyle Larin, the Canadian men’s team’s two all-time top scorers, and limiting the duo to just one off-target shot between them.  

Scoring opportunities were scarce for the Canadians for most of the match as they were unable to unlock Australia’s defence despite enjoying the bulk of possession and dictating the pace. Half-scoring chances fell to Larin, midfielder Ismaël Koné and winger Tajon Buchanan in the opening 45 minutes, but the visitors comfortably reached the halftime knotted at 0-0. 

Only after Nestory Irankunda scored in the 71st minute off a series of defensive gaffes from the Canadians did the hosts show some urgency in the final third of the pitch. Substitutes Promise David, Jacob Shaffelburg, Liam Millar and Tani Oluwaseyi looked very lively following their respective introductions, but still didn’t do enough to produce an equalizer against Australia’s bend-but-don’t-break defence. 

While Marsch conceded his team “needed to be a little bit sharper” in some of its crucial moments in the final third, he also believed, rather curiously, that his team’s attacking ideas and its connections on the pitch were good.  

“I think [we did] a lot of very good things, but we just need to be a little bit more clinical with the chances that we did get,” fullback Richie Laryea offered. 

"Usually we're very lethal up the front, and we take our chances, and we kill off teams. And tonight, it was kind of the opposite," added goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau

Canada’s growing reputation in international soccer preceded it, that of a dynamic attacking force that can hurt opponents with its speed in moments of transition. Teams are showing the Canadians far more respect than ever before, leery of the damage they know Les Rouges can inflict.  

Marsch’s men can expect more of these types of matches both in the buildup to the World Cup and at the actual tournament, where opponents will be happy to let the Canadians have the ball and challenge them to get in behind, thereby neutralizing their ultra-dangerous pressing game.

“There's a reason why teams play the low block. It's because it's hard to break down,” Marsch stated. 

In that regard, Friday’s loss proved to be an invaluable lesson for Marsch. He now has to come up with a Plan B on how to deal with such an opponent who is content to just sit deep, because what he tried against the Australians didn’t work. 

“They were tough. They sat in their block. They were diligent. They didn't care if we had the ball in front of them. So, it was difficult. It's a difficult opponent. (But) I'm happy we were able to get an opponent like this leading to the World Cup,” Laryea said. 

The other valuable takeaway from this contest from a Canadian perspective is the importance of staying mentally engaged at all times. You can’t afford to let standards slip, even for the briefest of moments, or you run the risk of being punished.  

Australia’s goal was a result of a series of errors that never should’ve happened. 

Centre back Joel Waterman didn’t do enough to cut out Mohamed Touré Touré’s low cross from the right wing deep into the box, and Irankunda took advantage of defender Niko Sigur’s poor touch before stabbing his shot past Crépeau. Substitute Luc de Fougerolles also had a chance to make a clearance on Touré’s dangerous ball into the box, but didn't make the necessary play. 

“Joel loses a little bit of a foot race on the left side. But it wasn't like he was way out of position or anything. I thought he was coming back to try to deal with that. Luc comes to me right after and says, ‘I should have cut off the cross.’ And yes, that's the responsibility of the next defender, is to make sure that that near post is protected,” Marsch explained 

“And then Niko’s there. He does a really good job to get back into the position, and he just has to make a play that doesn't end up (with the ball) in the back of our net, right? So little things that we can improve, but important lessons that we have to learn.”