Canada visits Saint Paul, Minnesota, for its third and final match of the window, against an in-form USMNT at home. Both teams are coming off summer World Cup runs into the round of 16 and have handily dispatched their opposition in the current window. It will come down to a CanMNT vs USMNT showdown to decide who emerges with a perfect window. While not as spicy as the US-Mexico rivalry, Canada vs the US has grown increasingly intense over the past seven years.
The USMNT have had a perfect window so far, with three straight wins against Peru (4-1), Chile (4-2), and Mexico (3-0). Canada, too, are perfect this window but with one fewer game played. Les Rouges also faced Chile and Peru, beating them 1-0 and 2-0 respectively. While the outcomes matched the US games against these shared opponents, the manner of victory differed.
The US conceded to both opponents, whereas Canada produced two clean sheets in which their opponents managed just three shots and zero shots on target. However, Canada ought to have come away with more goals than they did, while the US put up four goals in each game.
The US took the paddle to Mexico in terms of the scoreline, but what the 3-0 result does not reveal is that all three American goals came from comically awful blunders — the first two from the keeper and the third from a centre-back. Compounded by a completely avoidable 67th-minute red card, Mexico simply folded after dominating possession and shot attempts early on.
For the US, fully half of their 2026 World Cup roster — 13 of 26 players — were not called into the squad this window by Pochettino. The US squad is considerably younger than at any time in recent memory as Pochettino has experimented with over a dozen new players. So far, 12 national team debuts have been handed out by Pochettino in this window, and he could add a 13th if Cole Campbell gets on the pitch against Canada.
Canada missed ten of their World Cup squad, and for the US match, they will miss 12 of their 26 after Cyle Larin and Tajon Buchanan picked up injuries and withdrew. Minnesota United's Marcus Caldeira and Toronto FC's Theo Corbeanu have been brought in to replace them. So far this window, Jesse Marsch has capped five new players: Jovan Ivanišević, Richard Chukwu, Owen Goodman, Justin Smith, and Luca Petrasso — squad renewal in action. He could add two more if James Pantemis and Caldeira receive any game time.
#CANMNT Roster Update 🍁
— CANMNT (@CANMNT_Official) October 5, 2026
Minnesota United FC's Marcus Caldeira and Toronto FC's Theo Corbeanu have joined camp for Canada's match against the USA on Tuesday 6 October as squad replacements for Southampton FC's Cyle Larin and Villarreal CF's Tajon Buchanan.
Larin experienced… pic.twitter.com/ptDMbZuL0w
It has been an eventful window for the US, as four teenagers have contributed goals — Orlando City's Justin Ellis, Red Bull New York's Julian Hall, Philadelphia Union's Cavan Sullivan, and Borussia Dortmund's Mathis Albert. Julian Hall became the first USMNT player to score in each of his first three caps.
Diego Kochen, just 20 years old, had a dream night against Mexico. The United States won 3-0, and the goalkeeper was the only member of the USMNT who did not concede a goal this window. In the two previous games, Pochettino opted to split goalkeeper duties within each match, with Matt Freese starting against Peru before making way for Kochen, and Chris Brady starting against Chile with Brian Schwake finishing the match.
For Canada, both Dayne St. Clair and Owen Goodman came away with clean sheets in this window, although Goodman was not required to make a save as the back line stifled Peru for 90 minutes. Although veteran Richie Laryea started the Chile match and had a cameo against Peru, the rest of Canada's defenders were aged 24 or under, with only Niko Sigur and Luc de Fougerolles having more than five caps to their name.
Canada's challenge remains finding ways to score more from the shots and chances they generate. Against nine-man Chile, Canada generated 22 shot attempts with six on target but came away with just Jonathan David's early goal to show for it. The offence was marginally better against Peru, with 17 shot attempts and just three on target. Two well-taken Jacob Shaffelburg goals in the first half were all that was needed for the win, but there really should have been more goals in a game Canada managed comfortably from start to finish.
In the last two-plus years since Jesse Marsch took the helm, Canada have faced the US twice and come through as 2-1 winners both times. The September 2024 game was Canada's first-ever win on US soil since 1957 in a competitive or friendly senior men's match. Jacob Shaffelburg and Cyle Larin scored for Canada, with Luca de la Torre replying for the US.
Canada followed this up with a win in the March 2025 Nations League third-place match. Tani Oluwaseyi and Jonathan David had the goals for Canada, with Patrick Agyemang responding for the home side. That game was notable as Canada's first competitive win in the US in 68 years, as well as for Jesse Marsch's second-half dismissal and for Alphonso Davies' ACL injury after a heavy foul from Agyemang early on.
Projected XIs
Both managers have selected experimental rosters this window. As such, predicting starting line-ups for this match is a fool's errand, but here we go.
Canada (4-4-2): James Pantemis; Richie Laryea, Ralph Priso, Luc de Fougerolles, Niko Sigur; Jacob Shaffelburg, Stephen Eustáquio, Nathan Saliba, Liam Millar; Jonathan David, Promise David
USA (4-2-3-1): Brian Schwake; Antonee Robinson, George Campbell, Neil Pierre, Sergino Dest; Brooklyn Raines, Sebastian Berhalter; Cavan Sullivan, Yunus Musah, Malik Tillman; Julian Hall
Game information and how to watch
⏰ 8:00 pm ET / 7:00 pm CT / 5:00 pm PT
📅 Tuesday, October 6, 2026
📺 OneSoccer, TSN, RDS
🧑⚖️ TBD
🏟 Allianz Field, Saint Paul, Minnesota
