Canada miss shot at statement win: "A knife in the heart"

It took just a minute for it all to come crashing down.

Embodied by talk of ending a 25-year trophy drought and finally establishing themselves as a preeminent regional power, the Canadian men’s national team didn’t even get to settle before their 2024-25 Concacaf Nations League run came to a screeching halt Thursday night at SoFi Stadium.

Raúl Jiménez scored in the first and 75th minutes to give Mexico a 2-0 win and send Canada into Sunday’s Third Place Match against the United States.

“It’s tough, but I’m happy with the resilience we showed,” said an emotional Alistair Johnston after the match. “Fair play to [Mexico], they played a good game.

"... We knew what we would get coming into this match, but it was still maybe even more than we could have expected.”

Statement needed

Despite Canada’s rise and run to the 2024 Copa América semifinal, they are still searching for a statement win, let alone a trophy, under head coach Jesse Marsch.

"It was a knife in the heart to play well, to really do a lot of good things in the game, but then just fall short,” said Marsch. “That disappointment is hard to shake. It’s a missed opportunity.”

Canada were eager to prove they belonged with the best. Given everything that had gone their way since Marsch took on the role 10 months ago, they thought the Nations League might be their time.

But there’s still more work to do before the team can truly claim to be a top international side, especially with the FIFA World Cup 2026 approaching in less than 450 days.

“It’s still another step where we're continuing to show our quality, organization, and intelligence. Now, it's just that little savviness that the best international teams have,” said Marsch. “They really wanted to lift a trophy for the country. They believe strongly in the team that they're becoming.”

Offensive struggles

Canada’s players and Marsch critiqued a missed penalty call on former Vancouver Whitecaps FC defender Derek Cornelius in the first half, but one goal likely wouldn’t have changed the outcome.

Despite attacking talents of Lille’s Jonathan David and former MLS standouts Cyle Larin and Alphonso Davies, Les Rouges were held off the scoresheet for the seventh time in the 14-game Marsch era and failed to add to the nine goals they’ve scored in that spell, only mustering one shot on target.

“I think there were a few moments where we could have a little bit of understanding of how to slow the game down in the last third and make some final passes that get us in and around the goal,” Marsch said.

“Mexico is combative, and they defend well, but we should have been able to create more, given how we were pushing the game.”

Not all is lost

There was no matchup the Canadian team wanted more than with the USMNT at the Nations League Finals. They’re getting it, but in the third-place clash, with no trophy on the line.

Still, it’s another substantial test against a similar opponent is another chance to develop, with the World Cup fast approaching.

“I wouldn't say it's a step back, but it’s a learning step,” Davies said. “The US is always tough, so we’re going to take this defeat and try to turn it into something positive against them.”

Unlike the USMNT, the current iteration of the CanMNT has forged an identity and is ironing out the details for moments like these at the World Cup and potentially the summer’s Gold Cup.

The plans just didn’t come to fruition on Thursday.

“We're going to make sure that the people of Canada get to appreciate who these players are and the qualities they bring,” added Marsch. “We’re going to keep trying to push the level at which we play the game... even though we lost today, I was pleased with a lot of things that we did.”