Canada fall short of Gold Cup expectations: "It’s devastating" | OneFootball

By Ben Steiner

After entering the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup with hopes of ending a 25-year trophy drought, Canada crashed out in the quarterfinals, falling to No. 106-ranked Guatemala on penalty kicks Sunday evening.

In the moments after José Morales’ penalty hit the back of the net, the emotions were clear.

“It’s devastating; it’s a real gut punch,” Minnesota United goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair told OneSoccer after the match.

“We came into this tournament with high expectations and this is definitely not the way that we had envisioned. It's something that's gonna hurt for a while.”

Missed opportunity

After opening the scoring in the 30th minute through a Jonathan David penalty kick, Les Rouges were reduced to 10 men when Nashville SC’s Jacob Shaffelburg was red-carded shortly before halftime.

That opened the door for former Real Salt Lake striker Rubio Rubin to equalize at 1-1 in the 69th minute, before Guatemala won 6-5 in penalties.

Los Chapines move on to the semifinals, whereas Canada’s next competitive match is their 2026 FIFA World Cup opener next summer at Toronto FC’s BMO Field.

“I feel bad for the group because I know how bad they wanted it,” CanMNT head coach Jesse Marsch told reporters after the match.

“It’s important for us to learn from this because I think we lost because we beat ourselves, and we can't do that in important matches, and we certainly can't do that next summer at the World Cup.”

Continued growth

While Canada missed the opportunity to play in more high-pressure games ahead of the World Cup, the Gold Cup showcased their expanded player pool.

With several key players missing, the tournament proved a breakout for midfielders Niko Sigur and Nathan Saliba, as well as 19-year-old center back Luc de Fougerolles, each putting themselves in starting contention for next year’s World Cup.

“I’m still very positive about this group. I think we made a lot of progress with a lot of players like Niko Sigur, Nathan Saliba, Daniel Jebbison and Joel Waterman,” Marsch said. “A lot of guys have taken big steps and have shown that they're going to be a big part of this moving forward.”

Despite not getting a chance at more competitive games this summer, the Gold Cup lived up to Marsch’s previously stated goal of expanding depth in the lead-up to 2026.

“I wasn't talking that much about a trophy as much as I was talking about moving forward day by day and making sure that we were up for the challenge. We fall short and that's painful,” he said.

“I do think that going further would have done wonders for this group in terms of what next summer can be. However, I'm relentless in my pursuit of development and improvement with this team, and I believe in these guys entirely.”

Next steps

With no competitive games remaining this summer, Canada look towards upcoming friendlies and players’ club form to fine-tune World Cup preparation.

Canada visit European sides Romania and Wales in the September international window, and will face Colombia at the New York Red Bulls' stadium in October. Other friendlies are yet to be announced.

Through each step, Canada’s focus remains singular.

“We’ll create some things internally that reinforce competitiveness, but the reality is friendlies are different than meaningful matches,” Marsch said.

“We will still have to find ways to make sure that the urgency and the understanding of what the best games require is there, and that we reinforce that every single time we're together.”