The Canadian Men's team returns to action on Saturday night after completing a successful home World Cup just over three months ago, where the co-hosts reached the round of 16 before bowing out to FIFA seventh-ranked Morocco. Their opponents will be South American side Chile, whom the Reds last faced at the 2024 Copa América held in the United States. The teams battled to a scoreless stalemate, though it proved enough for Canada to advance to the knockout stages.
The latest on Chile
Chile have not qualified for a World Cup since 2014, and they were eliminated in the group stage at the most recent Copa América — a group they shared with Canada. In the crucial third group stage game, Chile faced Canada in a match they needed to win but settled for a draw. Les Rouges finished second in the group and advanced, ultimately bowing out in the semi-finals. The two sides have faced each other five times, but Canada's only victory came in a 1988 friendly, courtesy of a 90th-minute Ian Bridge winner.
In the CONMEBOL qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup, Chile won just twice and drew five times from 18 matches, scoring only nine goals while conceding 27. It was their worst qualifying campaign since CONMEBOL adopted the home-and-away format including all member nations for the 1998 World Cup. That qualifying campaign had not yet concluded when the Chilean federation began rolling out wholesale changes to its programme.
Current interim manager Nicolás Córdova took the reins for the final two games of the qualifying campaign in July 2025. Chile have also played seven friendlies since that disastrous campaign, winning five and losing two. Wins came over Russia, Peru (twice), Cape Verde, and DR Congo, while New Zealand and Portugal inflicted the losses.
#LaRoja 🇨🇱 entrenó en el Estadio BMO Field en Toronto, donde mañana enfrentará a Canadá 🇨🇦, en su primer partido por la Fecha FIFA. #SiempreConLaRoja pic.twitter.com/30ryCeCblp
— Selección Chilena (@LaRoja) September 26, 2026
The end of the World Cup qualifiers also coincided with wholesale changes to the national team's identity, as the stars of Chile's golden generation retired from international football between 2023 and 2025. Globally renowned names — all with a century of caps — such as Gary Medel, Claudio Bravo, Mauricio Isla, Eduardo Vargas, Arturo Vidal, and Alexis Sánchez lowered the curtain on their time on the world stage.
Over the last 12 months, the Chilean national team has been undergoing a significant rebuild and tactical restructuring. After former manager Ricardo Gareca's departure, the squad has begun a long-term overhaul under Nicolás Córdova, marked by a shift toward a younger, more mobile, and tactically flexible team.
In the new Chilean tactical approach, possession dominance is not a primary aim. Instead, La Roja now focuses on a compact defence with an energetic press, ready to transition into quick counter-attacking play. This style should be familiar to the Canadian Men's team and those who follow it, as it closely resembles Marsch's tactical philosophy and approach.
Chile are markedly younger and vastly less experienced internationally than the previous golden generation. This is not to say the team lacks maturity and seasoned professionals within its ranks. Their most-capped player selected this window is defender Paulo Díaz of Atlanta United with 56 caps. In all, there are just five players with more than 30 caps to their name. Their current top national team scorer is Sheffield United's Ben Brereton Díaz with ten goals.
Chile have called up eleven players with five or fewer caps to their 27-strong roster, not including three training players. CF Montréal's goalkeeper was not included in the Chilean squad, but Toronto FC centre-back Benjamín Kuscevic was called in. Kuscevic is typical of the current core of the Chilean squad in terms of international experience, with his 16 caps.
Canada: squad renewal or a springboard to new heights
With just 15 players available from the summer's World Cup squad, the Canadian roster may be undergoing substantial changes, as many national teams do in the post-tournament period. While Jesse Marsch is using this camp to bring in players who were not in the World Cup squad and introduce a handful of new faces to the senior programme, the manager has insisted he sees it as less transitional and more about continuity and gradual integration.
Marsch has not approached this window as necessarily a time for squad renewal, but rather as a mild transition from the just-finished World Cup to the next stage of the programme's competitive evolution. He believes it was not necessary to overhaul the roster with a view to 2030, and he feels the changes need to be more gradual. In his words, the World Cup "was a great moment in history for this country and for this team," but he characterized the current round of friendlies as a springboard to new heights and achievements.
The Canadian roster selected by manager Jesse Marsch was heavily influenced by the spate of injuries among Canadian internationals, as well as the need for a handful of players to attend to personal matters this window. Among those absent through injury are Ismaël Koné, Alistair Johnston, Ali Ahmed, Moïse Bombito, and Marcelo Flores.
"As he leaned for the ball, Derek's knee got kinda caught in the ground, and it forced his hip to react. So it's some kind of hip injury." 🎙️
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 23, 2026
CanMNT 🇨🇦 head coach Jesse Marsch explains what happened to #TeamOM defender Derek Cornelius in training today
🎥 H/T TSN Sports pic.twitter.com/bpJ3QZ6U3q
From the moment the roster was selected through the first week of camp, the names of Alfie Jones, Jeevan Badwal, and Derek Cornelius have been added to the injured list. Captain Alphonso Davies, Maxime Crépeau, and Joel Waterman are attending to personal matters. While Jamie Knight-Lebel has been brought in to fill Alfie Jones' spot, replacements for Jeevan Badwal and Derek Cornelius have yet to be announced and will only be available after the match with Chile.
With the volume of injuries affecting Canada's defensive corps, the game with Chile will give Canada's young and less experienced centre-backs a chance to earn valuable minutes. Accordingly, the most experienced head among Canada's centre-backs is the soon-to-be 21-year-old Luc de Fougerolles. Starting alongside him will be 24-year-old Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder-turned-centre-back Ralph Priso. Behind them are 22-year-old Jamie Knight-Lebel and new call-up Jovan Ivanišević, who is just 21 years old.
The midfield is a bit light on numbers following the early-week injury to new call-up Jeevan Badwal. With Koné unavailable, the responsibility will fall to Nathan Saliba and Mathieu Choinière. Stephen Eustáquio will be available off the bench, but he was a late arrival to camp, having married his long-time partner earlier in the week.
Canada's main weapons in attack have arrived in camp in excellent form. Liam Millar, despite the disappointment of being dropped by Premier League newcomers Hull City, has been on fire for both his former club and new Championship side Birmingham City. On the other wing, Tajon Buchanan has also been playing with confidence for Villarreal.
Up front, Canada's long-time strike partnership of Cyle Larin and Jonathan David have had terrific starts to their club seasons. Larin already has eight goals in ten appearances across all competitions for Championship side Southampton and was named the EFL Championship Player of the Month for August.
Jonathan David has also hit form after arriving on loan at Atlético Madrid this season following a challenging year at Juventus. After remaining an unused substitute in Atlético's opening match, David has scored in three successive starts, including the winner over arch-rivals Real Madrid. His three goals and an assist have reinvigorated David as a strong contender for La Liga Player of the Month honours for September.
Our OG Junior has always made time for fellow Canadians 🫡 #CANMNT pic.twitter.com/Yycikyk3kA
— CANMNT (@CANMNT_Official) September 25, 2026
The match at BMO Field will also serve as a celebration for long-serving Canadian star Junior Hoilett, who will retire from the national team. Once Canada's biggest name when the programme was languishing in the low 100s of the FIFA rankings, Hoilett's decision to represent Canada was among the early sparks that helped fuel the country's rise in global reputation. This was especially the case during the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign, when Hoilett, along with Atiba Hutchinson and a rising phenom in Alphonso Davies, were the only recognizable names in Canada's squad. On Saturday night, Hoilett passes the torch as his time with the national team draws to a close.
Odds and ends
A handful of Canadian players have potential milestones in the upcoming match. Aside from Junior Hoilett reaching 70 caps, should the veteran score, he would move one goal clear of Tosaint Ricketts and into sole possession of seventh place with 18 goals, just one shy of the trio of Lucas Cavallini, John Catliff, and Dale Mitchell ahead of him.
Jonathan David is likely to win his 83rd cap, moving past Randy Samuel and to within one of Paul Stalteri, alone in sixth place all-time. Richie Laryea could also earn his 81st cap, pulling him ahead of Milan Borjan and level with Dwayne De Rosario in eighth place.
Projected XIs
Chile (4-2-3-1): Lawrence Vigouroux; Gabriel Suazo, Benjamín Kuscevic, Iván Román, Felipe Faúndez; Felipe Loyola, Vicente Pizarro; Darío Osorio, Lucas Cepeda, Maximiliano Gutiérrez; Ben Brereton Díaz
Canada (4-4-2): Owen Goodman; Richie Laryea, Ralph Priso, Luc de Fougerolles, Niko Sigur; Liam Millar, Mathieu Choinière, Nathan Saliba, Junior Hoilett; Jonathan David, Cyle Larin
Game information and how to watch
⏰ 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 pm PT
📅 Saturday, September 26, 2026
📺 OneSoccer, TSN, RDS
👨⚖️ TBD
🏟 BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario
