The Canada men’s national team has not scored in their last three games, but Jesse Marsch is “really not worried” about his side’s struggles in the final third.
Despite earning back-to-back draws against Colombia and Ecuador, Canada have faltered as of late. Even with talents such as Juventus’ Jonathan David and Villarreal’s Tani Oluwaseyi among their strikers, they have still struggled to find the back of the net.
While the lack of goalscoring for a high-pressing side may raise eyebrows less than seven months out from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, there are some bright spots Canada can build from.
“Internationally, with football being a little less ingrained with some of the tactical movements, you can say our ability to be sound in our principles with how we press and how aggressive and how that impacts our attacks in space and the opponent,” Marsch said.
“Sometimes they don't have room to play, and it has proven to be very effective.”
In their goalless draw with Colombia, Canada briefly found a breakthrough through David, but the goal was wiped away for offside. In their next match against Ecuador that ended with the same scoreline, the Reds, who battled with 10 men for 84 minutes, only had one shot on target that Oluwaseyi sent right at the goalkeeper.
By the final whistle, shorthanded Canada outperformed Ecuador 0.66 to 0.44 on the xG. Yet, they have not scored from open play since a 3–0 win over Romania in September.
“Oluwaseyi’s chance was really good,” said Marsch after the Ecuador draw. “We’ve got goals in this team, so I’m really not worried about that. I’m so happy to see that we’re such a strong defensive team, and tactically and conceptually, we’re very strong.”
