ANALYSIS + HIGHLIGHTS: CanMNT grind to 0-0 draw with Colombia in physical friendly
The Canadian men's national team put in a remarkable shift against the world's 13th-ranked side on Tuesday night in Harrison, N.J., playing to a scrappy 0-0 draw with Colombia.
Although this October international window has now ended without a win for Canada, head coach Jesse Marsch will leave content with the effort his side put in against a top-quality opponent that was in the Copa América final just two years ago. It wasn't the most effective attacking performance from Canada, who only mustered one shot on target (plus a goal chalked off for offside), but they needed an immense defensive effort to silence a Colombia team that had scored 13 goals in their last three games.
As expected, this wasn't a particularly pretty or fluid game of football, but rather a chippy affair with little attacking rhythm for either side, in front of a heavily pro-Colombia crowd at Sports Illustrated Stadium. The two teams both threatened the goal a handful of times, but neither managed to solve the other in the end as Canada's defence passed one of its toughest tests yet — though Marsch wanted even more.
"I think it was a good performance, not a great performance," he told reporters postmatch. "I felt like most of the game, we were in fourth or fifth gear, and we could have really pushed ourselves into sixth gear and had another level of tactical clarity, aggression, confidence on the ball, clarity in the final third, and quality to make the last action in the final third."
After Friday night's loss in Montreal to Australia, Marsch rolled out a similar Canadian starting XI, though Dayne St. Clair got the start in goal. Luc De Fougerolles returned to the backline, Tani Oluwaseyi played alongside Jonathan David up top, and Stephen Eustáquio returned to captain the team in midfield.
Meanwhile, Colombian manager Néstor Lorenzo made major changes to his squad, keeping just two of his starters from the side that beat Mexico 4-0 on Saturday. Bayern Munich star Luis Díaz stayed in the team, as did Bologna's Jhon Lucumí, with nine new players brought into the starting XI — five of which hadn't played at all in the Mexico game, making for a well-rested side.
Canada have not played many games against opposition of Colombia's calibre, and they showed early on that this would be a new experience for Les Rouges. Spurred on by a heavily partisan crowd, the Colombians were aggressive without the ball and quick with it, closing down any Canadian player in possession almost immediately. They were intensely physical while also demonstrating a knack for winning fouls; Díaz managed to draw Richie Laryea into a 12th-minute yellow card by going to ground from quite soft contact.
Los Cafeteros looked dangerous in transition, pulling Canada's numbers over to mark the Colombian right side in order to create space for Díaz on the left; when they managed to release the Bayern winger, he strode forward at pace and put Canada right-back Niko Sigur under pressure with his dynamic dribbling ability.
After about 20 minutes, though, Canada began to settle into the game. They started to match Colombia's physicality and drew fouls in the attacking half to set up some promising set-piece opportunities. Laryea, who had been targeted in the first 15 minutes or so by Colombia going forward, got more involved on the ball, occasionally tucking into midfield to provide an extra body to help counter Colombia's advantage.
As Canada got more comfortable in the match, they started to get under Colombia's skin. Each whistle seemed to be followed by a brief scrum; each tackle had some bite to it. Eustáquio, around the 35th minute, went to ground after Colombia's Richard Ríos elbowed him in the back of the neck. This would not be a pretty match, but Canada — led by their captain Eustáquio — evidently had to manage the game and the situation, avoiding falling into the trap of showing frustration at Colombia's gamesmanship.
(Photo by Audrey Magny/Canada Soccer)
When the halftime whistle blew, it was certainly Canada who went to the locker room the slightly happier side. They hadn't managed to get much going in attack, although they had the game's only shot. Still, they kept Colombia at bay, limiting them to only one touch in the box. This was a disjointed game, with 23 fouls in total across the two sides in the first half, but Canada were undoubtedly going blow-for-blow with a much more seasoned team in these types of matches.
Perhaps that's why Lorenzo went to his bench at halftime, bringing on his most trusted veteran in former World Cup Golden Boot winner James Rodríguez. He may be 34, but he won the Golden Ball as player of the tournament at the most recent Copa América, and remains Los Cafeteros' most dangerous player.
The former Real Madrid midfielder made for one of the most difficult midfield matchups Canada, and Ismaël Koné in particular, have faced in the centre of the pitch. He would immediately provide a greater threat in that area and help get striker Cucho Hernández involved after a quiet first half.
Hernández did get involved soon; he and Díaz combined for Colombia's first real chance of the game in the 57th minute, as a give-and-go along the left side sent Díaz in all alone on goal. The winger's low shot toward the far post got past St. Clair, but trickled just wide, much to the dismay of the crowd.
That would, perhaps mercifully, be Díaz and Hernández's final action of the evening, as their night came to an end around the hour mark when Lorenzo turned again to his bench — as did Marsch, who added Liam Millar on the left wing in place of Ali Ahmed. He soon added Jacob Shaffelburg and Promise David to the match as well to add additional pace. From there, the match became increasingly open and high-tempo over the final half-hour, both sides looking for a winner.
Canada thought they'd opened the scoring around the 75th minute, as Shaffelburg flicked a ball into the box for Jonathan David, who took a great touch before smashing a half-volley past the keeper and into the net. However, the assistant referee had spotted Shaffelburg coming from a narrowly offside position to play the ball, and thus the goal was ruled out.
GOAL... BUT OFFSIDE 🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 15, 2025
Jonathan David smacks one home for the CanMNT 🇨🇦 vs. Colombia 🇨🇴 but Jacob Shaffelburg was a hair offside in the build-up, and it's disallowed 🥲 pic.twitter.com/sGTHO0Synw
Colombia's best chance came just after the 90th minute, again spawned from a quick transitional moment. Right-back Andrés Román had a clear look at goal, but St. Clair and Laryea combined to somehow keep out what looked like a sure goal.
When the full-time whistle blew, Canada may not have been rejoicing, but there's no doubt that a draw with Colombia in those circumstances is an impressive result from Marsch's side. They'll be somewhat disappointed with their inability to create many chances, or make use of the time they did spend in the final third; the Jonathan David non-goal was the only real threat they posed. However, the defensive performance was something Marsch can point to as a resounding positive.
Canada were out-possessed 60 to 40, but made 28 tackles to Colombia's 15, won 55 per cent of the duels, and dispossessed their opponents 17 times. They still, now, have not lost back-to-back games in 90 minutes under Jesse Marsch.
"We are starting to look more like a complete team, we're looking more like an experienced team," Marsch said. "The leaders are looking more and more like leaders, the young players are developing where they look more like the regular players. There's a lot of positive developments happening in the team, and the way we commit to games is going to ultimately benefit us more down the road."
Faced with some of the most talented attacking players in the world, the Canadian defence held firm, and did what they needed to for a remarkably gutsy clean sheet.
Box Score
Lineups
Canada: St. Clair; Sigur (Bassong 85'), Cornelius, De Fougerolles, Laryea; Buchanan (Shaffelburg 71'), Eustáquio, Koné (Choinière 85'), Ahmed (Millar 60'); Oluwaseyi (P. David 71'), J. David
Colombia: Montero; Román, Sánchez, Lucumí, Mojica; Ríos (Castaño 78'), Portilla (Lerma 78'); Campaz (Rodríguez 46'), Quintero (Serna 60'), Díaz (Asprilla 60'); Hernández (Borré 60')
Goals
None
Discipline
12' — Yellow: Richie Laryea (Canada)
45' — Yellow: Derek Cornelius (Canada)
77' — Yellow: Niko Sigur (Canada)
Player of the Match
Niko Sigur, Canada
The Hajduk Split full-back had arguably the toughest assignment in the game, having to keep pace with Luis Díaz for an hour. However, Sigur was outstanding on the right flank, breaking up attacks repeatedly. He made six tackles and three clearances, also winning nine duels in a tireless defensive performance. Sigur needed to respond after his giveaway cost Canada against Australia, and he did so emphatically.
What’s Next?
This international window has now concluded, but CanMNT will be back in action at Toronto's BMO Field on Thursday, Nov. 13 against Ecuador (kickoff 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, on OneSoccer and TSN).
