Canada has filed its preliminary roster for next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, a 60-man list that will be reduced to a final squad of 23 to 26 players by June 4.
The 18th edition of the CONCACAF championship runs June 14 to July 6, featuring 15 countries from North and Central America and the Caribbean plus No. 58 Saudi Arabia as a guest team.
The tournament, spanning 14 stadiums across 11 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Canada (Vancouver), is coming to Canada for a third time with Toronto’s BMO Field having staged games in 2015 and 2023.
The Canadians, currently ranked a record 30th in the world, open Group B play June 17 against No. 75 Honduras at B.C. Place Stadium before moving to Houston to face No. 90 Curaçao on June 21 and No. 81 El Salvador on June 24, with both games at Shell Energy Stadium.
The top two in each of the four groups advance to the knockout round.
Canada will be without coach Jesse Marsch for the first two games at the tournament. Marsch was handed a two-game ban after being sent off in the CONCACAF Nations League third-place game in March.
The preliminary roster features six players from CF Montreal (Victor Loturi, Luca Petrasso, Sam Piette, Nathan Saliba, Jonathan Sirois and Joel Waterman), five from Toronto FC (Theo Corbeanu, Deandre Kerr, Richie Laryea, Jonathan Osorio and Kosi Thompson) and four from the Vancouver Whitecaps (Sam Adekugbe, Ali Ahmed, Jayden Nelson and Ralph Priso).
Montreal’s Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, on loan at Charlotte FC from Montreal, is also on the roster.
Osorio (shoulder) and Laryea (hamstring) have been sidelined by injury but are nearing a return. There is no place for Alphonso Davies, however, with the Canada captain recovering from knee surgery. Winger Liam Millar (Hull City, England) has also been sidelined by a knee injury.
Canada vice-captain Stephen Eustaquio is on the preliminary roster despite the fact that his Portuguese side Porto is taking part at the FIFA Club World Cup, which runs June 14 to July 13. Forward Jonathan David, set to depart France’s Lille with his contract expiring, could also face a calendar clash if he signs with one of the 32 teams at the Club World Cup.
Canada’s preliminary roster also includes 17-year-old York United FC winger Shola Jimoh (York United FC, CPL), 19-year-old forward Santiago Lopez (Pumas UNAM, Mexico), 20-year-old midfielder Jovan Ivanisevic (Italy’s Bologna FC U-20 team on loan from Croatia’s NK Istra 1961), 20-year-old midfielder Dieu-Merci Michel (Vitoria de Guimaraes, Portugal), and 22-year-old midfielder Justin Smith (RCD Espanyol, Spain).
Promise David (Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, Belgium) and Daniel Jebbison (Bournemouth, England), called up for the CONCACAF Nations League Finals earlier this year after committing to Canada, both made the preliminary roster.
There is also a spot for Kwasi Poku, who was named the 2024 CPL Best Canadian U-21 Player for Forge FC before transferring to Belgium’s RWD Molenbeek for a CPL-record transfer fee.
Canada, the U.S, Mexico, Panama, El Salvador, Haiti, Curaçao and the Dominican Republic, qualified for this year’s tournament via the CONCACAF Nations League.
Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, Suriname and Guadeloupe booked their tickets by winning two-legged qualifying playoffs.
Mexico, Canada, Panama and the U.S., as the top teams in the CONCACAF rankings, were seeded and kept part in different groups.
The Canadian men are 9-13-7 all-time against Honduras, winning 4-1 the last time they met in March 2023 at BMO Field. They are 10-5-4 against El Salvador, winning 3-0 and 2-0 when they met in September 2021 and February 2022.
Canada has won all three meetings with Curaçao, including a 2-0 decision the last time they met in CONCACAF Nations League play in March 2023. That game was Canada’s first after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Mexico is the current Gold Cup champion, having defeated Panama 1-0 in the 2023 final for its record ninth Gold Cup title. The U.S. has lifted the trophy seven times and Canada once, in 2000.
The Canadian men lost to the U.S. in a quarterfinal penalty shootout last time out, at the 2023 tournament.
Canada finished third in 2002 and was a losing semifinalist in 2007 and 2021, beaten by the U.S., and Mexico, respectively.
