History was made 67 seconds into Canada’s game against Croatia at the 2022 World Cup. Alphonso Davies’ leaping header was the team’s first-ever goal at the men’s tournament and set the tone for a new era of Canadian soccer – an era that Jesse Marsch will hope to accelerate at Copa América.
In May, Marsch was announced as the Canadian men’s national team head coach, replacing John Herdman, who left to join Toronto FC in MLS. Historically, coaching Canada has been tough. The organization has experienced political and financial turmoil, with the women’s national team being especially vocal about a lack of investment. Despite those concerns, Marsch, who interviewed for the USMNT job in 2022, accepted a job some would say he is overqualified for – thanks to some creative accounting from Canada’s MLS franchises.
“US Soccer had the chance to hire me,” Marsch told the Guardian in May. “They have nobody to look at but themselves. In the end, I have the freedom in my life to do what’s best for me and myself.”
What’s best for the American is a return to international football. After closing his playing career in 2010, Marsch made his coaching debut as an assistant for US Soccer before taking the top job at Montreal Impact (now CF Montréal). He went on to join the Red Bull soccer syndicate, being named MLS Coach of the Year at the company’s New York outpost, before winning by back-to-back Austrian league titles and clinching Champions League berths with Salzburg and Leipzig.
There, he built a reputation as a progressive coach, someone who fit with the Red Bull ‘model’, all high-intensity pressing and focused on player development. It’s a model Canada Soccer is hoping will knit together a talented group of young players by the time they co-host the 2026 World Cup.
This summer will be Marsch’s first time in an international dugout at a major tournament since 2010, when he worked as an assistant for Bob Bradley at the South Africa World Cup. “I feel I could take a lot of the lessons from that and apply that to what we’re doing in Canada,” Marsch said. “I’ve been trying to really get my finger on the pulse of what things do we need to keep and how do we evolve.”
There is plenty of work to do. From the highs of the Herdman era, Canada hit a new low before Marsch arrived: they drew 2-2 with Guadeloupe and labored to a 0-0 draw against Guatemala last summer.
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