As the Major League Soccer regular season winds down, it is a good time to consider how important the top tier of soccer in Canada and the United States actually is for the men’s national team ahead of the 2026 World Cup. After all, the last time North America hosted FIFA’s flagship extravaganza, it was a tipping point: MLS was born out of it as part of the deal for the USA.
There are no such promises hanging over 2026, although having a domestic professional league was imperative ahead of the bidding process, hence the Canadian Premier League’s arrival in 2019.
Over the next few years, the CPL’s role in providing a legitimate player pathway to the national team will be obvious and no longer debated. As we stand though — and this could certainly change within the next 20 months — only a handful of footballers currently on the radar of the national program are playing or have played in the CPL.
MLS, on the other hand, will be key.
As we saw this past weekend in Toronto, there is still a concerning bias towards European soccer. Perhaps using Leo Messi as an example is disingenuous given his status in world sport, but it was clear that many of those who were at BMO Field on Saturday were enjoying an MLS match for the first time, and they were certainly not there to show their support for the home team.
There is still a definite disconnect between fans of European professional soccer and those who watch the best we have in North America. MLS is relevant and has quality talent, but it is also an easy league to bash by those who can’t believe it doesn’t yet have a team that could compete with the world’s best. The truth is: very few leagues in the world do.
In Jesse Marsch’s most recent squad announcement for the Oct. 15th friendly against Panama, 12 of the 26 footballers play in MLS. In fact, all 12 of them started this past weekend for their respective teams.
Domestically, the Vancouver Whitecaps, CF Montreal and Toronto FC started 12 Canadians combined, with seven of those players in this latest Canada squad.
Sure, many internationals use MLS as a stepping stone to Europe, and that is absolutely fine and necessary. Every nation wants its players testing themselves in the top leagues, after all. But as Toronto FC’s Jonathan Osorio can attest to, playing the bulk of a successful and lucrative career in MLS is a very good option that should not be dismissed.
YES WE CAN-CON!
While we celebrate our home-grown players moving onto bigger and better things, we should also acknowledge that the Canadian soccer industry has quality and qualified people throughout its ranks.
Few are more respected than former Canadian men’s national team head coach Stephen Hart, who most recently coached HFX Wanderers in the CPL. He’s now heading south of the border, teaming up with another Canadian in Rob Gale at the Portland Thorns of the NWSL. Hart joins as an assistant coach to Gale, as the Thorns push towards the playoffs in what is now Christine Sinclair’s final season as a player.
There is plenty of Can-con in the NWSL, with the Canadian women’s national team captain Jesse Fleming also calling Portland home.