At the Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the Canadian Men’s National Soccer Team bested Venezuela 2-0 on Tuesday night, marking the end of the November 2025 FIFA International Window, and the last of Canada’s 2025 international matches, as the nation transitions into World Cup mode.
With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that the CANMNT has taken the approach of tightening its rotations over the past few international windows, allowing the players who will actually take the pitch during the 2026 World Cup to do so. Jesse Marsch, Canada’s manager, has said as much himself at a press conference back in September.
Still, with key members of the national team such as Moïse Bombito, Alistair Johnston, and, of course, Alphonso Davies injured, Marsch has needed to be creative with his rotations. In this week’s game against Venezuela, Marsch started Canadian wonderkids Niko Sigur and Jayden Nelson.
The story of this match, though, is that Alfie Jones made his debut for Canada, and looked quite solid while doing it. Jones, who was born in England, is connected to Canada through his grandmother – and after a lengthy process, FIFA finally approved him to play for the CANMNT. A defender for EFL Championship side Middlesbrough, Jones provides a level of English groundedness that will be much welcomed by Marsch’s squad at the World Cup.
While most fans agree that this was not a particularly pretty match for Canada, the squad was able to wipe the floor with Venezuela for a few reasons. Of these reasons, the most glaring factor is that Venezuela’s defense did not look anywhere near coherent; this much was shown when Ismaël Koné was given far too much time in the box at 23′, netting Canada’s first goal since September 9th vs Wales.
Though both sides were shown red, with Venezuela’s David Martinez and Canada’s Ismaël Koné both being ejected around the 60 minute mark, this match mostly just felt like two tired teams going through the motions for the majority of the match. Still, Promise David, who has also been in excellent for with RUSG, was able to net a second (admittedly offside) goal for Canada at the 83rd minute, securing the nation its only victory over a CONMEBOL country in 2025.
A cause of concern in the eyes of many Canadian fans recently has been Jonathan David’s form since joining Juventus, both in club and country play. After another lacklustre performance on Tuesday, many fans have been calling for an early loan out from Juve so that David can regain some form ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Whether or not this happens, though, Canadian fans should be confident that the budding generation of Canadian strikers featuring the likes of Promise David and Villareal’s Tani Oluwaseyi will be able to hold their own at the World Cup.
With Canada vs Venezuela all wrapped up, the CANMNT will not have the chance to play together again until March, where there is a good chance the squad will once again be fully healthy.
