Analyzing the pros and cons of the CanMNT's reported pre-World Cup schedule
The CanMNT’s journey towards the 2026 FIFA World Cup has started to come into focus this week, as they’ve continued to finalize their pre-tournament schedule.
After announcing a friendly against Uzbekistan in Edmonton on June 1st, they’re on the verge of confirming their plans for the March window, where they'll take on Iceland and Tunisia on March 28th and 31st, respectively, in Toronto.
4 GAMES LEFT BEFORE THE WORLD CUP 👀
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) January 19, 2026
The CanMNT 🇨🇦 is set to take on Iceland 🇮🇸, Tunisia 🇹🇳, Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 and one more team in June: Who do you want to see round out our pre-World Cup preparations? pic.twitter.com/Rd5X7C6pWY
Once those are officially unveiled, that leaves just one game for Canada to announce, which will be the second of two June window games, confirmed to be in Montréal for their World Cup send-off. There is yet to be any confirmation on who they might play in that matchup, but there are indications that it could be a UEFA team, with Jesse Marsch even saying in an interview with Herculez Gomez that they've been in discussions to play Turkey in that game.
Jesse Marsch on CanMNT 🇨🇦 potentially playing Türkiye 🇹🇷 in the build-up to 2026 🎙️
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) January 19, 2026
"Turkiye's a good team and we may– this is a team that we could potentially play in one of the lead-up matches that we're talking to. I know and I really respect Turkiye and I think that they… pic.twitter.com/u0NyhRVew6
If that’s the case, that would be huge news, as it would leave Canada with a pretty clear indication of what the next few months would look like for them, with the lone remaining hurdle being to figure out who they’ll play in their actual tournament opener - that, of course, remains in flux with Canada set to face off against UEFA’s path A playoff winner, which will be determined in March.
Perhaps that game might be the determining factor behind Canada’s decision to play Turkey or not (as Turkey themselves also have a playoff to get through to qualify for the World Cup), but at the same time, Marsch’s comments seem to suggest that they’re leaning towards that matchup, regardless.
Because of that, it’s now fascinating to analyze what’s ahead for this Canadian team, especially now that we also know their World Cup group.
Our FIFA World Cup 26™️ group!
— CANMNT (@CANMNT_Official) December 5, 2025
Notre groupe pour la Coupe du Monde de la FIFA 26™️ ! pic.twitter.com/y7EqEyd6aC
This next stretch won’t make or break their World Cup aspirations, but they’ll certainly be crucial in terms of their preparation, and that’s quite important. In a tournament of fine margins, the sort of details that can be gleaned from a preparatory friendly could have big implications down the road.
When considering all of that, here’s a look at some of the pros and cons of Canada’s reported lineup of friendlies, now that the pieces have started to come together.
Pro: A long-awaited run of home games
It’s wild to think that by the time Canada takes the field for that matchup against Iceland in March, they’ll be playing just their eighth home game under Jesse Marsch, having played just seven out of the 28 games contested during his tenure in Canada.
How important is it for the #CanMNT to be back in Montréal?👀
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 9, 2025
And could this kick off a pivotal stretch of home games for this side heading into the 2026 World Cup?😎
OS DIRECT▶️https://t.co/0ciVi11U6i pic.twitter.com/DgABxLTIBb
For a team about to co-host a World Cup, that’s felt like a bit of a missed opportunity, as they haven’t been able to build some hype and momentum that can come with these home matches. By comparison, ahead of the 2022 World Cup, they were able to foster that sort of energy thanks to the several home matchups they played during qualifiers, which created a country-wide momentum that carried into the World Cup.
At the same time, that’s not to say that it’s a bad thing that they’ve played a large chunk of games outside of Canada - six of those matches came at the Copa América, which proved to be a transformative experience for this team, and they’ve had the opportunity to play some other challenge friendlies in difficult environments. When looking back at those games, it’s hard to suggest that they’d trade those experiences for some home games.
Now, though, with the World Cup rapidly approaching, actually having this run of home games will serve them well. At the end of the day, Canada has the chance to really use their co-host advantage to help fuel their success at the World Cup, and playing a run of home games will allow them to build on the sort of comfort that other teams just won’t have.
Because of that, look for Canada to use these next four games to their advantage, on and off the pitch.
On the pitch, they’ll want to build positive momentum with four good performances and results, which will help build further confidence in the group ahead of the competitive matches that await.
Then, off the pitch, they’ll want to pull in some big crowds and create some buzz among Canadians, helping create a taste of what this summer will look like.
Yes, with how big the World Cup will be, creating a buzz this summer will be easy - this tournament could be played on Mars and the whole world would stop to watch it - but Canada will want to get the ball rolling on the festivities as early as possible, and these friendlies can help them do that. 
Con: A lack of games in Vancouver
While it’ll be good for Canada to play two games in Toronto, one in Edmonton and one in Montréal, it must be said that one city is missing from that list - Vancouver.
Considering that they’ll be hosting at least two World Cup games in the city, with the potential to play two further matches there if they do well, it’s a surprise to see that they won’t play a game in the city before they face Qatar in their second group stage game on June 18th.
Given that they’ve played just once in Vancouver since Marsch’s arrival, a 6-0 win vs. Honduras at the 2025 Gold Cup, you do have to wonder if they’ve missed an opportunity to become more familiar with a city and stadium that could be a big part of their 2026 World Cup story.
Welcome to VANCOUVER ✈️
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) December 6, 2025
Here are some of the teams that will be playing at BC Place in Vancouver, BC next summer 🏆#CanMNT 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/3Pe9pV1mNl
Yes, it must be said there are credible reasons why Vancouver hasn’t been able to host more Canada games at BC Place over the last two years, such as scheduling conflicts, the controversial turf surface, travel and many others, so it’s not as if this is a failure of sorts. Ultimately, Toronto’s BMO Field has proven to be an excellent place to host games and has stepped up in a big way when needed - last summer’s ‘Canadian Shield’ friendlies are a great example of what that looks like.
By that same token, though, you can’t help but look at that and ponder whether that sort of effort could’ve also been made to get Vancouver some more matches - although that would’ve taken a lot of work from other entities beyond Canada Soccer, which wouldn’t have been easy to undergo.
It must be said, though - it’s quite exciting that Canada will have a game in Montréal and Edmonton, especially considering that both cities had at one point looked like potential host venues. By having these matches there, it’ll offer fans in both cities a chance to connect with the team and feel part of the World Cup experience, which should help build the country-wide momentum that this tournament hopes to bring to Canada.
From a pure sporting perspective, though, you just can’t help but feel like not playing in Vancouver is as big a miss as playing in Montréal and Edmonton is a hit - you can only wonder about a world where Canada was able to play in Montréal, Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver in these games.
Pro: A reasonable balance of opponents
At first glance, there’s a lot to like with Canada’s prospective matches against Iceland, Tunisia, Uzbekistan and Turkey.
Of the four, two are going to the World Cup (Tunisia, Uzbekistan), a third is in a good position to join them (Turkey are the favourites to emerge from UEFA Playoff Pathway C), and the fourth, Iceland, has always proven to be a solid opponent (just last year they drew France 2-2 in World Cup qualifiers).
Certainly, the FIFA rankings and elo ratings show that they’re all solid opponents, too - Turkey is 25th in the FIFA rankings, Tunisia is 47th, and Iceland is 74th, while in the elo ratings, Turkey is 15th, Tunisia is 61st, and Iceland is 71st.
For context, when you look at Canada’s World Cup opponents, Switzerland is 18th in the FIFA Rankings and 13th in the elo ratings, Qatar is 56th in the FIFA Rankings and 92nd in the elo ratings, while their third opponent (either Italy, Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina or Northern Ireland) is ranked between 13th and 71st in the FIFA Rankings, and between 19th and 69th in the elo ratings, showing that these are pretty equivalent preparatory games.
Because of that, it’s easy to get excited about these matchups, especially when considering the variety of the teams, too, with two coming from UEFA, one from AFC and the third from CAF. Heading into a World Cup, it’s always good to play countries from different continents, which can allow you to test your team against new stylistic matchups, which can be vital when it comes to refining your identity and finalizing your tactical plan.
Iceland 🇮🇸, Tunisia 🇹🇳, Uzbekistan 🇺🇿... Türkiye? 🇹🇷
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) January 19, 2026
Jesse Marsch recently told @herculezg that his side could potentially be playing Türkiye ahead of the 2026 World Cup... so what do we make of this 4-match slate as tournament prep? 👀 pic.twitter.com/bDgARZ9dXA
Yet, to Canada’s credit, that’s something they’ve done quite well - among the 13 friendlies they’ve already played under Marsch, five have been from UEFA, three from CONMEBOL, three from Concacaf, one from CAF and one from AFC, which is a good balance.
Across these four friendlies, they’ll get a chance to further expand that variety, which should only help them heading into the World Cup, as they’ll have officially played multiple opponents from each confederation except OFC since the start of 2024.
Plus, it must be said that Canada has struck a good balance between finding competitive but winnable games for these next four matches. For a team still looking to work certain players into the lineup after injuries, while finalizing their tactical plan, these games will allow them to do all that while potentially picking up victories.
The results accumulated in these friendlies won’t count for much - Canada winning all four or losing all four won’t have any impact on their World Cup performance - but it wouldn’t hurt to win a few matches given their status as World Cup co-hosts, especially with these games being at home. Positive momentum can sometimes go a long way, after all. 
Con: A lack of standout matchups
At the same time, while there’s a lot to like with Canada’s prospective four opponents, which are balanced and varied, it feels like there’s a missing piece to the puzzle.
For a lack of a better way to put it, there’s no heavyweight matchup among that list, which could’ve served Canada well.
Just compare Canada’s schedule to fellow co-hosts, the US, who will face Belgium, Portugal, Sénégal and Germany in their four pre-World Cup friendlies - for those keeping track, that’s three pot one teams in Belgium, Portugal and Germany, and a pot two team that just won a continental championship in Sénégal.
Perhaps, it can be argued that the US’s schedule is actually too hard, but you can’t doubt that they’ll get the opportunity to really test themselves across those four matches - for better or for worse.
Similarly, while other co-hosts Mexico’s plans aren’t finalized, they’ve also got a few heavyweight matches on the horizon, as they’ll also play Portugal and Belgium in March, which should also serve them well.
Meanwhile, despite potentially having two teams that could be within the top 20 in the FIFA Rankings in their group (if Italy qualifies), Canada will have had just three matches against teams in that top 20 since the start of 2025 - and two of them were games against the US and Mexico, with the third being a friendly against Colombia last fall, meaning that none of those games would have come in 2026.
For a Canadian team that has struggled to beat non-Concacaf teams ranked in that top 30 this decade (although they’ve gotten good at drawing them lately), you’d have to think that they would’ve relished playing an opponent like that in a home friendly close to the World Cup. 
Plus, you can only imagine what sort of interest would’ve come from Canada having a friendly like that, too, as Canada playing a heavyweight would’ve certainly guaranteed the buzz they’re hoping to build in these matches.
It must be said that those sorts of games aren’t easy to organize, especially at home - typically, top teams demand a big fee when playing friendlies and issue other big demands that can be hard to meet, so it’s understandable why such a match hasn’t come together.
At the same time, you can only imagine what a game like Canada vs. a pot 1 team like Brazil or Germany could’ve looked like, so it’s easy to lament what could’ve been, and hope that such a match can instead occur at the World Cup - with Canada hopefully up for the task if it does.
