As LAFC chases CCC ambitions, will we see Stephen Eustáquio and Mathieu Choinière play together more?
After a strong start to the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup, LAFC are looking to finish the tournament on a high note, as they get set to face Toluca in the semi-finals.
Coming off victories against Real España in the first round, Alajuelense in the Round of 16 and Cruz Azul in the quarter-finals, LAFC are looking to keep the good times rolling as they aim to reach their third CCC final this decade. Given that they fell short in both of those finals, which came in 2020 and 2023, they’ll want to get the job done this year, adding to their growing legacy as a club, having now won two Supporters Shields, one MLS Cup and one US Open Cup trophy since their first season in 2018.
If they’re to lift that CCC trophy next month, they’ll rely on the contributions of several Canadian players to help them do that, too, as Stephen Eustáquio, Mathieu Choinière, Jacob Shaffelburg, Ryan Raposo and Thomas Hasal have all featured in the competition so far, with Eustáquio, Choinière and Shaffelburg all likely to play a pretty significant part in the semi-finals.
In particular, it’ll be fascinating to see what roles Eustáquio and Choinière will play, as they’ve proven to be key contributors to this LAFC team, offering the sort of balance in midfield that this star-studded team has needed. While the play of Heung-Min Son, Dénis Bouanga and David Martínez has stolen the headlines, the underrated contributions from the likes of Eustáquio and Choinière have also gone a long way towards fuelling this team’s success.
But while Eustáquio and Choinière are set to play a key role for this team in the business end of this competition, it remains to be seen whether they will actually share the pitch, as they’ve not actually played much together despite being rather complementary pieces that play a similar position in this LAFC team.
Instead, it’s been a common sight to see what happened in LAFC’s most recent MLS matchup, a 1-0 win vs. Minnesota United - on that day, Eustáquio started and went 59 minutes, before being spelled by Choinière, who closed out the game with a 30-minute cameo. And just days earlier, LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos (who is also Canadian) flipped the script, starting Choinière before bringing in Eustáquio, who was just returning from injury, for Choinière in the 67th minute.
Yet, that shows why, despite LAFC already playing 16 matches this season, Eustáquio and Choinière have only played 72 out of a possible 1440 minutes together. Granted, part of that can be explained by Eustáquio’s injury, which kept him out of action for a month, but even that injury helps further explain the conundrum that exists for the pair.
For whatever reason, the success of one has seemed to come at the expense of the other right now, and that’s less than ideal. 
To begin the season, it was Eustáquio who was thriving, and Choinière’s minutes suffered at his expense - Choinière played just 145 minutes across the first five games of the season, with Eustáquio earning 377 minutes across that same span, scoring one goal and adding one assist (while generating countless pre-assists).
Another LAFC screamer 🚨
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 1, 2026
Stephen Eustáquio's first makes it 2-0! pic.twitter.com/XmH880Riyv
Then, after Eustáquio’s injury, Choinière had a sharp uptick in usage, as he played 717 minutes across the nine games Eustáquio missed (an average of 79 minutes per game), scoring two goals and adding two assists in those matches.
A composed finish by Martínez to extend the lead! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/VaBGXjNKmv
— Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) April 8, 2026
In the two games since Eustáquio has returned from injury, however, Choinière’s minutes have dipped slightly, as he’s played 98 minutes across both games (49 minutes per game), with Eustáquio immediately eating into some of his minutes.
From a Canadian perspective, that’s worrying, as heading into the World Cup this summer, Eustáquio and Choinière are expected to be two key players for the CanMNT, so it’s hoped that both can enter in top form and good health.
Son gives LAFC the lead! 👏 pic.twitter.com/G4lyjIOFDa
— Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) April 8, 2026
As it stands, it’ll be hard for Choinière to find the former if Eustáquio remains in good form, given that he’s had his best stretch of the season when Eustáquio was absent with an injury - and of course, the last thing any Canadian fan would want to see is Eustáquio pick up another ailment, even if that helped Choinière’s minutes, given that Eustáquio is arguably one of Canada’s top three most important players heading into the World Cup.
Because of that, the wish of a CanMNT fan is quite simple - they’d love to see the pair deployed together, instead of competing with each other. They’ve proven to be a good pairing when leaned upon - early in his tenure, CanMNT head coach Jesse Marsch actually started the pair together in four games in a stretch during the fall of 2024 - so it’s not as if Dos Santos would be reinventing the wheel by deciding to play both together.
Mathieu Choinière finds the opening goal for @LAFC!
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 15, 2026
📺 Apple TV: https://t.co/Sy7rTvR5P9 pic.twitter.com/KKuVlncUgV
While both are similar players stylistically, sitting as all-action midfielders who cover a lot of ground and can pull the strings in possession, their skills can be rather complementary to each other. It’s not as if each are one-dimensional midfielders who need to be paired with specific players to shine - in fact, their versatile skillsets allow them to thrive in various midfield set-ups, with different partners.
Given that LAFC usually use a 4-2-3-1 formation that demands a lot of their midfielders, you can only imagine an Eustáquio and Choinière pivot fitting together quite nicely in that system, the same way that they worked well in Marsch’s 4-2-2-2 in that stretch of games for Canada.
Of course, while it’d be nice from a Canadian perspective to see that duo play together, to suggest that does ignore one of the realities that LAFC is dealing with - their depth. One of the reasons Eustáquio and Choinière haven’t played that much together is due to the presence of fellow midfielder Mark Delgado, as the two-time MLS Cup champion has been a reliable piece in LAFC’s midfield, already racking up 1130 minutes of action across all competitions this season.
For a team that only employs two midfielders, that usually means that one of Delgado, Eustáquio or Choinière has to sit out when all are available, and that’s usually been Choinière, with Delgado’s experience and Eustáquio’s pedigree making them a preferred starting pair for Dos Santos.
Because of that, it feels like there are only 2 solutions to the problem that faces Choinière - either Dos Santos will have to switch to a set-up that uses three midfielders, or LAFC will have to move on from one of their midfielders.
Another one! That's a brace for Choinière! pic.twitter.com/x7WjnQsmwB
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 15, 2026
To be fair, it’s not that unrealistic for Dos Santos to consider a formation change - a large reason he’s played with a 4-2-3-1 is due to the sheer depth he has to choose from in the attack between Son, Bouanga, Martínez, Timothy Tillman, Jacob Shaffelburg, Tyler Boyd and Nathan Ordaz. That’s come at a cost, because while LAFC are extremely lethal in the attack, they’re not controlling games at the level one would expect, holding just an average of 47% possession - inserting a third midfielder would help them fix that, especially when considering the profile of their midfielders in Delgado, Eustáquio and Choinière
At the same time, it’s worth noting that his midfield is a bit lighter in overall depth (even if it’s quite top-heavy), so switching to a three-player midfield would place a lot more stress on that group, which could have another impact.
That leads to the other option, which is one of their midfielders moving on. It is important to remember that, as excellent as Eustáquio has been, he’s only on loan from Porto, and while LAFC will have a purchase option, it’s expected to be a hefty one.
If they exercise it, though, Delgado and Choinière would carry good value within MLS as proven domestic players, with Delgado’s MLS Cup-winning pedigree and Choinière’s presence as a CanMNT player and a two-time MLS All-Star.
Yet, if any move like that is going to happen, it won’t likely occur until after the World Cup, so that doesn’t sort out the immediate question of how LAFC can get Eustáquio and Choinière on the pitch more together in the lead-up to that tournament. 
A rare game in which Choinière and Eustáquio started together (along with Ryan Raposo and Thomas Hasal), coming in CCC action vs. Real España (Concacaf)
The good news from a Canadian perspective? With LAFC’s participation at this stage of the CCC, they’ve got a lot of games in their schedule over the next few weeks.
With that schedule congestion, that’ll open the door for them to experiment with their lineup, which might include them trying to play Eustáquio and Choinière together more, much to the benefit of the CanMNT.
And even if we don’t see that, with all of the games on the horizon, there will be lots of minutes up for grabs for everyone, so both Eustáquio and Choinière should still get plenty of minutes even if they don’t play together.
But given how important Eustáquio is as a crucial starter on this Canadian side, and Choinière’s usefulness as a role player who can both start and come off the bench while also taking set pieces, it’ll be hoped that they at least get some time to share the pitch - the more they play as a duo, the more the CanMNT benefits from that.
So far this season, their success has been in opposition to one another - hopefully, we see them work a lot more in tandem over the next few weeks, perhaps opening the door for a long-term partnership with LAFC if both are to remain with the club after the World Cup.
