2025, huh? A strange one, to be sure.
From a Canadian soccer perspective, it felt a little like that odd calm before the storm. All year we spent looking forward, using next year’s World Cup as our excuse to dismiss what was really happening. After all, 2026 is the big one, and anything that transpired this year did so under the immense shadow of what is to come.
Even the negative moments and events were all explained away as nothing to really worry about, because by the time "FIFA planet" lands on our fair land in June, they will have all have been forgotten, dealt with.
In fact, with every reason to panic this year, there was a reminder that perhaps we have to just trust the footballing universe to figure it all out.
Seriously. It was kind of crazy.
Canada was supposed to win a trophy in 2025, remember. Or at least come close to lifting something shiny for the first time since the 2000 Gold Cup, whether that was a Nations League crown or another Gold Cup.
Not only did this not happen, but both tournaments were in fact disappointments. Losing to Mexico in the semifinal of the Nations League in March was a stark reminder that dismissing an arch-rival as a has-been was enormously premature. However, beating the U.S. in Los Angeles in the third-place game allowed the Canadian soccer zeitgeist to enjoy a short memory. That the win, as impressive as it was (and it was) also happened right in the heart of Mauricio Pochettino’s “finding out” phase of his U.S. Soccer takeover was easy to forget.
By June, all eyes were on the Gold Cup, and despite topping its group, Canada would fall to Guatemala in the first knockout round. The match went to penalties after Jacob Shaffelburg’s late red card in the first half. Again, crushing disappointment but an opportunity to “learn,” as coach Jesse Marsch would contend. Indeed, this came to fruition in November, when Canada played the majority of its friendly against Ecuador with 10 men after Ali Ahmed was sent off — another great lesson ahead of a World Cup, where managing difficult scenarios may well be needed.
By the time the Gold Cup kicked off, Canada of course was without captain Alphonso Davies, who ruptured his ACL during that Nations League third-place game in March. Marsch would use Sam Adekugbe, Zorhan Bassong and even Alistair Johnston at left back in the absence of Davies, only to stumble on Richie Laryea during the fall tour of Romania and Wales. Naturally right-sided, Laryea’s versatility was essential, and as we enter the new year, and as Davies returns after eight months out, there is a legitimate argument that Laryea’s performances have determined that, at this point, he is undroppable.
Another injury victim in 2025 was left winger Liam Millar, who was out of action until October having also torn his ACL a year prior. Millar’s injury meant more playing time for Vancouver’s Ahmed, who took full advantage with a series of superb performances in Canadian red. While Shaffelburg’s red card at the Gold Cup also opened up an opportunity, Ahmed has grown into a key part of Marsch’s squad. He is no longer considered a bubble player, and his dynamism and bravery on the left wing has been one of the “must-watch” parts of the year.
Moise Bombito had grown into one of Marsch’s most trusted lieutenants while also excelling at Nice. Injuries prevented him from playing at the Gold Cup, and a broken leg early in the Ligue 1 season meant Marsch had to look at alternatives. But make no mistake: Bombito is key and has arguably the greatest up side on the team, but if not for this injury, we may not have seen Luc De Fougerolles' rapid ascension up the depth chart, and by the time Middlesbrough’s Alfie Jones arrived on the scene having secured his citizenship in time to play against Ecuador, the centre-back situation had never looked as promising for Canada as it does now.
Ismael Kone’s decision to accept a loan from Marseille in France to Serie A new boys Sassuolo may have looked like a step down on paper, but given his troubled time in France coupled with the fact that he walked into a starting job in the Serie A for a team that has surprised the entire country with its solid play, the move looks to have been a masterstroke.
Did the signing have Marsch’s fingerprints all over it? Let’s not speculate, but considering Marsch lives within a couple of hours of Kone’s new team and has been able to keep a close eye on his midfield protege, this move has worked out swimmingly, with Kone back to his best and once again the heir apparent to Atiba Hutchinson in the middle of the park.
Sure, it would have been easy to lament an injury-ravaged 2025, but that is the way of Marsch. The injuries opened doors that perhaps would not have been there otherwise, so here we are on the very edge of a historic year, and Canada’s men’s team is in perhaps the greatest shape it has ever enjoyed.
