It took 23 years for the Canadian men’s team to reach the final of another major international tournament.
But Canada’s quest for a second trophy remains unfulfilled, as John Herdman’s team came out on the wrong end of a 2-0 loss to the United States in the Concacaf Nations League final at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. In doing so, the Canadians blew a chance to hoist their first trophy since winning the 2000 Gold Cup.
The U.S. now is unbeaten in 22 matches against Canada on American soil (with 12 wins), the longest home unbeaten run in its history.
Here’s what happened during Sunday’s match between Canada and the U.S., in case you missed it…
GAME RECAP IN A SENTENCE
Gio Reyna collected a pair of assists, and Chris Richards and Folarin Balogun both scored for an American side that outplayed and overwhelmed Canada in the first half, and then dared the Canadians to break them down in the second half.
MAIN STORYLINES
Alphonso Davies starts, but fails to impress
In Thursday’s semifinal win over Panama, coach John Herdman decided not to start Alphonso Davies, and instead subbed the Bayern Munich star into the match in the 62nd minute.
His introduction tipped the game back in Canada’s favour at a time when Panama looked dangerous, and Davies’ goal just seven minutes after stepping on to the pitch thwarted any chance of a comeback by the Central Americans.
Davies got the call to start on Sunday and the general hope in the Canadian camp was that he’d be able to give the American backline all it could handle with his pace and trickery while in possession. It didn’t work out that way, though.
Davies was continually let down by an uncharacteristic heavy touch on the ball when he managed to get into dangerous attacking areas. When he did break through and get a decent look on goal, he was anything but clinical in his finishing — none of his four shots came close to hitting the target.
Right fullback Joe Scally, starting in place of the suspended Sergiño Dest, managed to mark Davies closely and suffocate him whenever he had the ball, keeping the Canadian in his back pocket for most of the game.
Canada’s first major final in 23 years required Davies to show why he’s considered the best player in Concacaf. But it was a quiet night for Davies, who didn’t influence matters at all and was a non-factor.
John Herdman: ‘We’ve got to get serious’
Canada couldn’t match the intensity of the United States for most of the night, especially when it came to competing for 50/50 balls. While the Canadians were far too casual in possession, the Americans were purposeful when they had the ball and forced the visitors onto the back foot with their speed in moments of transition.
Canada’s defence looked disjointed as they were overrun by the Americans, with centre back Scott Kennedy, in particular, struggling to keep his wits about him as the hosts poured on the pressure. It has to be said that Canada appeared to be unprepared to deal with the athleticism and attacking quality of the Americans, while the defending from the Canadian centre backs on set pieces was atrocious.
Part of the problem can be traced back to what’s going on behind the scenes at Canada Soccer. The organization is dealing with a major shortfall in resources, which meant the men’s team only had an abbreviated training camp coming into the finals of this tournament.
Coach John Herdman is clearly frustrated with the situation, especially with Canada set to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Mexico and the U.S. He feels he needs more time to work with his players so they can be better prepared for these types of big games, but Canada Soccer’s financial situation makes that difficult at the moment. Something has to change on that front in order for Canada to stand any kind of competitive chance at the next World Cup.
“We’ve got the best generation of players we’ve had, and there’s more coming. … [But] we’ve got to figure this out financially. We’ve got to get serious about winning a World Cup. When you play at home you get a chance to win it. You get a chance to get to a quarterfinals and then get on that road to win. And we’re not serious. We’ve brought a World Cup to our country and we’re not serious about winning it,” Herdman said after Sunday’s loss.
He added: “We’ve got to get real, and quick, because these players deserve it. The country deserves it… Let’s get after it.”
BEST MOMENT OF THE GAME
After Chris Richards opened the scoring in the 12th minute, the U.S. continued to turn the screws on Canada and doubled their advantage just after the half-hour mark. Gio Reyna expertly won the ball back for the U.S. in the middle of the park and then went on a sensational run down the middle before playing a sublime through ball into the penalty area for Folarin Balogun to latch onto and fire past Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan.
STAT OF THE GAME
Chris Richards and Folarin Balogun are the first players to score their first career goals for the U.S. men’s team in a major tournament final.
BEST QUOTE
“We just didn’t capitalize on big moments. If we had, it’s a different game. I felt Canada was right there tonight. Right there” — John Herdman
THREE STARS
1) Chris Richards: The American centre back opened the scoring with his first goal for the U.S. and marshalled a back line that neutralized Davies and Canada’s other dangerous attackers.
2) Folarin Balogun: The 21-year-old forward was a constant thorn in the side of the Canadian defence with his dangerous movement on and off the ball. Scored his first goal to seal the win.
3) Gio Reyna: He was subbed out in the 46th minute, but not before a brilliant first-half performance that saw him collect two assists. Was at the heart of the U.S.’s best attacking moments in the game
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.