Two previous World Cups — 1986 (Mexico) and 2022 (Qatar). 2026 is Canada's third, and its first on home soil as co-hosts; the group stage has never yet been survived.
Canada's all-time leading scorer and the man the whole campaign is built around — cool, two-footed, and overdue a World Cup goal on home soil.
Captained the side for two decades and the first Canadian man past 100 caps; retired after the 2022 World Cup.
Passed Cyle Larin in November 2024 to become Canada's all-time leading scorer — and is in the 2026 squad.
⚠ The most-used eleven in recent matches under Jesse Marsch (June 2026) — a snapshot of recent form, never a forecast.
| PLAYER | POS | ERA | CAPS | GLS | FILE NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atiba Hutchinson #13 | MF | 2003–2023 | 104 | 9 | Record caps and two-decade captain — the unflappable metronome who finally took Canada back to the World Cup. |
| Jonathan David #20 | FW | 2018– | 77 | 39 | The record scorer, still scoring — a striker who treats the goal like an appointment he refuses to miss. |
| Cyle Larin #9 | FW | 2014– | 89 | 30 | Held the all-time scoring record until David passed him; the qualifying campaign's relentless poacher. |
| Dwayne De Rosario #14 | FW | 2000–2015 | 81 | 22 | DeRo. For years the standard every Canadian forward was measured against — and the 2000 Gold Cup hero. |
| Alphonso Davies #19 | DF | 2017– | 58 | 15 | Roadrunner. From a Ghanaian refugee camp to Bayern Munich, and the man who scored Canada's first World Cup goal. |
| Julián de Guzmán #6 | MF | 2002–2016 | 89 | 4 | Once the most-capped Canadian and a pioneer in Europe's top leagues when very few Canucks were. |
| Paul Stalteri #2 | DF | 1997–2010 | 84 | 9 | Bundesliga and Premier League full-back who carried the flag through the lean years with little to play for. |
| Milan Borjan #18 | GK | 2011–2023 | 80 | 0 | The roaring keeper behind the 2022 qualifying run — loud, defiant, and impossible to miss. |
| Randy Samuel #5 | DF | 1983–1997 | 82 | 1 | Centre-back rock of the 1986 generation — Canada's first World Cup squad and a record-holder for years. |
| Tomasz Radzinski #7 | FW | 1995–2007 | 46 | 10 | Everton and Anderlecht forward — a rare Canadian with genuine European pedigree in his era. |
For most of a century Canada was football's polite guest — turning up, saying little, scoring nothing (see: Mexico 1986). Then came a golden generation, a first goal in Qatar, and now a home World Cup with Davies and David to lead it. Still chasing a first World Cup win, but no longer a punchline. The Almanac is quietly rooting for them.