Canada has never won against Ecuador, last playing La Tri to a 2-2 draw in a friendly on June 1, 2011. Two other matches before that, one in the 2002 Gold Cup and the other in the 1999 Canada Cup, the only other times Canada and Ecuador have squared off, ended in 2-0 and 2-1 losses, respectively.
And yet, Thursday night’s 0-0 draw, extending the CanMNT’s winless streak and marred by an early sending off for Ali Ahmed, might now be the Canadian men’s national team’s “most important game [they’ve] played,” according to Marsch, thanks to the team’s reaction after the setback.
Stephen Eustáquio and Moisés Caicedo puzzlingly collided with each other off Jonathan David’s kickoff, setting the tone for a bizarre first few minutes.
The incident led to the trainers being called out less than 20 seconds into the match with both teams’ stars writhing on the ground in visible discomfort. They would both later re-enter after being checked on the sidelines, but it was what happened less than seven minutes later that sent BMO Field and fans at home into a frenzy.
And not a good one, at that.
Both coaches’ initial game plans seemingly went flying out the window for backup options after referee Fernando Hernandez dished out a red card to Ali Ahmed for a reckless, though unintentional, high boot.
Marsch, speaking to reporters after the match, was quick to comment that he “did not think it was a red card.”
Spectators online also rebuked the card, quoting a situation in 2023 when Hernandez was banned by the Liga MX Disciplinary Committee for 12 matches for kneeing a player in the groin.
RED CARD 🟥
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) November 14, 2025
Ali Ahmed is sent off in the opening minutes of the game after a high foot, and the CanMNT 🇨🇦 are down to 10 men
🔴 Watch the #CanMNT LIVE on OneSoccer, TSN & FuboTV pic.twitter.com/khaME1r2BG
However, Canada still got their looks in, despite being down a man, throughout the rest of the first half. Richie Laryea and Tani Oluwaseyi, in particular, looked on for a goal, but couldn’t get their final passes timed correctly with two Laryea cutbacks both squirreling behind Oluwaseyi on separate occasions.
On the one chance where they did connect, just shy of a quarter of an hour in, Ecuador shotstopper Hernán Galíndez pulled out his best Dayne St. Clair impression to deny Oluwaseyi, one-on-one.
Tani Oluwaseyi's shot is saved by Galindez 😫
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) November 14, 2025
🔴 Watch the #CanMNT LIVE on OneSoccer, TSN & FuboTV pic.twitter.com/WkQBiZmfpx
Ecuador’s brightest chance came in the 28th minute, as Enner Valencia bore down on Dayne St. Clair’s goal. St. Clair, given the opportunity to start in a “good matchup at home against a good opponent” as Marsch relayed before kickoff, wasn’t tested in the end as Valencia hit the side netting.
A shame, as half the ground, and particularly the large Ecuadorian contingent at BMO Field Thursday night, thought the former West Ham winger had found the back of the net.
La Tri would have another opportunity to open the score in the 65th minute as former Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite and Gonzalo Plata stood over a free-kick. It was the first notable action of the second half, minus a light skirmish with tensions at a peak since Ahmed’s early sending off.
Plata’s delivery to the back post was met by Willian Pacho but the Paris Saint-Germain centre-back poked the ball back past the opposite post and behind the end line.
A third chance for the visitors went begging with a little over 15 minutes to left after Nathan Saliba’s Anderlecht teammate Nilson Angulo dropped a perfect cross behind the retreating Canadian back line. But, John Yeboah failed to react to the bounce off the BMO Field grass and headed wide from point-blank range.
An army of substitutions finally entered the fray for Jesse Marsch in the 75th and 85th minutes, but with few fit defensive options on the bench — including Derek Cornelius dealing with a knock — Marsch instead continued to push for a goal, perhaps also factoring in the extra distance run by his front five.
Saliba, Osorio, Nelson, Hoilett, and an in-form Bair, probably not in the circumstances they expected, all had their names called, making mostly like-for-like replacements.
Despite the changes, stoppage-time devolved rather quickly, as Canada frustrated Ecuador in the corner. Both Patrik Mercado and Caicedo picked up late yellows as full-time was called in downtown Toronto.
The nil-nil final result saw Marsch’s side fail to score in a third-straight match with Derek Cornelius’ free-kick ringer the last time Les Rouges found the back of the net. One would have to go one match further, to the 3-0 win over Romania, to find Canada’s last open play goal.
Yet, Marsch was quick to allay those fears after the match, stating he “wasn’t worried”. Instead, Marsch turned the point on its head, joking that he “was more used to winning games 4-3, the way [he coaches].”
Marsch says repeatedly he thinks this is one of #CanMNT’s most important results, because of the maturity shown.
— Charlie O'Connor-Clarke (@charliejclarke) November 14, 2025
Points out they’ve allowed just five shots on target in the last five games. pic.twitter.com/50aL4SX9VI
Canada, to that end, have conceded just once in their last five, and twice in their last seven. Dayne St. Clair chipped in after full-time that “to come up with a clean sheet and a point is still something that [the team] can take as a positive.”
Kamal Miller also added on, calling it an “unbelievable performance that [they] treated like a World Cup game [where] anything can happen in a group stage or a knockout game and you got to be prepared for everything.”
That character that shone through for this Canadian side will get another chance to be on display on Tuesday, when Canada travel to Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for a rematch of their 2024 Copa América quarterfinal against Venezuela.
