Alistair Johnston once again shows quiet importance to CanMNT with solid 2026 World up showing
As the CanMNT navigated their journey to the Round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup, there were just two players who featured in every minute of action across the five games that they played.
One, unsurprisingly, was goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, who was designated as Canada’s #1 option in net shortly before the tournament. Once it was confirmed that he’d start in net in the first game, he was always expected to play every minute of every game at this tournament unless something completely unforeseen happened.
The other, however, was right back Alistair Johnston, who started and went 90 minutes in all five of Canada’s games at this World Cup. Considering that he had only returned from a major injury months earlier, it was remarkable to see, as Johnston hadn’t gone 90 minutes for Canada since they had lost to Guatemala in the quarter-final of the 2025 Gold Cup.
"Fans saw a Canadian team that wasn't afraid of anyone; we all wore our hearts on our sleeve"
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 4, 2026
Alistair Johnston on how Canadian spirit came through during the #CanMNT World Cup campaign 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/ZfCpLi7TyS
Throughout the fall of 2025 and spring of 2026, Johnston had remained unavailable to feature for Canada due to a hamstring injury, one that had held him out of action for Celtic FC for all but 742 minutes of action across 11 appearances during the 2025-2026 season. For someone who has typically averaged upwards of 2000 minutes across every full season he’s played since 2021, it was a shock to see.
Because of that, you had to wonder if he’d be available to play a substantial role at this World Cup for Canada. With Richie Laryea’s excellent form over the last 12 months in Johnston’s absence, the emergence of Niko Sigur as a starting option, and the impending return of Alphonso Davies, it felt like there was a world where Johnston might play a reduced role this summer.
Of course, a lot changed at the last minute, as Laryea and Davies both picked up injuries shortly before the tournament, which coincided perfectly with Johnston returning to action for Celtic, but one can only wonder what would’ve happened if Canada had all of their full backs fully healthy and available for the start of the tournament - could there have been a world where Davies and Laryea were starting with Johnston coming off the bench?
Guess that’ll be a question that’ll forever remain unanswered, although, in hindsight, it perhaps shouldn’t have been all that surprising to see Johnston step up the way that he did at this World Cup, as he’s made a habit of doing this at tournaments for Canada. 
Since making his Canada debut in 2021, he’s made a habit of playing a regular role at tournaments and in other competitive competitions with his country - in 2021, he played 423 out of 450 minutes in Canada’s run to the semi-finals at the Gold Cup, and followed that up by playing every minute at Canada’s World Cup appearance in 2022 (after playing over 1300 minutes across 19 appearances during qualifiers).
Then, he played 399 minutes during Canada’s run to the Concacaf Nations League finals in 2023 (he missed one game due to suspension, but started the other five games he was available for), and then played 85 minutes across two games during Canada’s unfortunate quarter-final exit during the 2023-2024 Nations League campaign.
Soon after, though, he had arguably his biggest moment in a Canadian shirt in 2024, as he played 512 out of a possible 540 minutes for Canada en route to their shock fourth-place finish at the Copa América, earning a spot in the team of the tournament for his performances.
From there, he followed that up with a 2024-2025 Nations League campaign where he played 334 minutes across four games (all starts), and then a 2025 Gold Cup where he played 167 minutes across three appearances (two starts) - and that’s despite missing the start of the tournament for his own honeymoon.
When seeing that, however, it’s unsurprising to see that he played the sort of role that he did at this World Cup, as this is what he’s done for Canada in these sorts of moments. In fact, since his 2021 debut, he’s only missed one possible competition, and that was the 2023 Gold Cup, which he missed due to ankle surgery.
That’s why he’s been able to rack up 63 caps across his five years with the team, with an astonishing 53 of them coming in competitive matches.
Sometimes, it’s often said that the best ability is availability, and it’s safe to say that Johnston has that down pat.
At the same time, that doesn’t take away from how well he’s performed in those minutes, as it’s not as if he’s munching up time on the pitch just due to his ability to stay healthy and available.
For example, look at how he performed at the 2024 Copa América. Across the 512 minutes he played, he put in a shift defensively, winning 42 out of 63 duels (66.7%), making 26 tackles, 6 interceptions, 2 blocks and 23 recoveries. For context, he was in the 100th percentile at his position that tournament for duels won and tackles, and was in the 92nd percentile for blocks and recoveries.
El equipo de la CONMEBOL Copa America™️ 2024, elegido por el Grupo de Estudio Táctico (GET). @pumafootball junto al equipo del torneo 🌟 pic.twitter.com/r7kXBuHXgG
— CONMEBOL Copa América™️ (@CopaAmerica) July 31, 2024
He was a bit quiet offensively, generating just one shot and one key pass while completing 81% of his passes along with three dribbles, but he more than made up for it with his defensive work.
And when looking at this World Cup, he did well to build on that, as he was able to put in a balanced performance at both ends of the pitch. His defensive numbers might not have been as spectacular as they were at the Copa América, which is likely due to the fact that Canada didn’t have to do as much defending this summer (they conceded just 3.3 xG in five games this World Cup, compared to 9.0 xG against at the Copa América), but he still had some good defensive output.
Defensively, he had two tackles, six interceptions, 16 recoveries and made 15 clearances - among those numbers, while the tackle output was low, the interceptions had him in the 85th percentile at his position, the recoveries in the 80th percentile and the clearances in the 90th percentile.
Offensively, though, he was able to produce at a much higher level, which was good to see, as he’s shown with Celtic that he can be dangerous there - he has seven goals and 24 assists in 122 appearances for the club, compared to just one goal and three assists for Canada. 
Here's Johnston's heatmap from this World Cup, which showcases his offensive involvement (SofaScore)
He was unable to generate a goal or an assist this tournament, but he took five shots and generated nine key passes (including three big chances), while also completing three dribbles. Yes, two of those shots and six of those key passes came in Canada’s dominant 6-0 win vs. Qatar, but if anything, that game served as a good showcase of what Johnston can do in a more advanced role, given that he usually plays a lot more defensively for Canada.
Therefore, when looking at that, you can see why Johnston was trusted to play such a significant role for this Canadian team this summer, as he showcased his usual reliability defensively, while showing a bit of offensive thrust when needed.
Because of that, it shows that as Canada’s focus starts to shift towards Canada’s 2030 World Cup cycle, Johnston remains a key piece in this team. And with Laryea now 31, and Sigur likely to play more in the midfield going forward, Johnston can continue to remain a lock to start at right back in the short term - and given that he’s still only 27, it’s easy to imagine him still starting for Canada come 2030, too. 
Now, there are two big questions to ask with Johnston’s future going forward.
Firstly, what happens with his club future? For now, he remains committed to Celtic, which is not a bad situation to be in - he’s a key piece at that club, where you can imagine him becoming a club legend and captain in the years to come, having already won nine trophies since arriving in 2023.
At the same time, you have to wonder if he goes and tests himself in a top five league, as he has the attributes to play for a Premier League club, for example. Given that there have been teams who have been linked to him from that league, you can only wonder if he makes a move like that in the coming years, especially after some of his top performances for club and country in big moments in the last few years.
Fulham are reportedly interested in signing Alistair Johnston from Celtic. The club had firm interest in the 26-year-old in January.
— CanMNTBible (@CanMNTBible) February 27, 2025
Ipswich Town and other English clubs are also keeping tabs on him.
(via @David_Ornstein) #CanMNT pic.twitter.com/OQy04sGmEB
There are benefits and drawbacks to both scenarios, but it’s hard not to get tantalized by the prospect of Johnston playing a regular role for a Premier League side, or another top five league team.
Then, of course, there’s the question of what his role becomes for Canada going forward, as he’s played a multitude of different roles since debuting in 2021. Remember when he was a centre back in Canada’s back three in the 2022 World Cup cycle?
As he’s shown for Celtic, he has the capacity to be influential in the final third, but he doesn’t always get the chance to showcase his offensive chops for Canada.
For a team looking for more offence, pushing Johnston to play more aggressively in wide areas could help give Canada a bit more juice in the attack, especially if they can combine that with similarly aggressive wide play from Alphonso Davies at left back. As top teams show, if you can get your full backs involved in attack, it’s so hard to defend, so it would make sense for Canada to harness the offensive skills of the players they have at that position.
It would obviously take some adjustments tactically to make it work, but Canada could make it work. For example, in midfield, Stephen Eustáquio is comfortable dropping into a back three in possession, while Sigur has shown when deployed at right back that he can also do the same.
If there’s a world where Canada deploys a midfield set-up where Eustáquio or Sigur can drop into a back three in possession to free up both Johnston and Davies to push forward, it feels like Canada would benefit from that, especially if they can find the right balance elsewhere on the pitch.
Yet, that’s a big question that Canada faces going forward - while they showed at this World Cup that they can be competitive in every game that they play, and are quite solid defensively (they conceded less xG in five games at this 2026 World Cup than they did in three games at the 2022 World Cup), there are questions to be asked in terms of how they can further elevate the skills of some of their top players.
While those questions are mostly pointed at attacking players such as Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan (and there is always a debate on how to best use Davies when healthy), Canada finding a way to get even more out of someone like Johnston is key.
As seen here, with his constant availability, you can rely on him to be on the pitch in those big games, where he’ll be functional and dependable when called upon. And that will hopefully continue, in perhaps even more of an elevated role, going forward.
