After busy summer, Jesse Marsch turns focus to developing Canadian player pathways: "We're creating something very clear"
As the dust continues to settle on the CanMNT’s successful run as co-hosts at the 2026 World Cup, their head coach, Jesse Marsch, has started to turn his focus towards the future of the National Team program.
He remains focused on the present, no doubt, as he gets set for what’s ahead for his team. With the start of a new World Cup cycle around the corner, he has a big job on his hands as he looks to push this Canadian team back to a third straight World Cup title, while also hoping to snap a 26-year trophy drought in the process.
Before then, though, Marsch has been doing a lot of important work off the pitch to improve the overall state of this program, continuing to embed himself at every level of Canadian soccer in his quest to advance the sport in this country.
Immediately after the World Cup, he rolled up his sleeves and got stuck into helping Canada’s Men’s U20 team at the 2026 U20 Concacaf Championship, where they finished top four and qualified for the U20 World Cup for the first time since 2007.
The CanMNT 🇨🇦 return to action in Toronto and Montreal in Sept./Oct., and for Jesse Marsch, there are two goals he's looking to achieve:
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) August 20, 2026
"It's a chance to celebrate players that have meant so much to this program for years... along with bringing in some new younger players, with… pic.twitter.com/fUm87SoyyL
Now, he’s returned to Canada, where he’s been working with Canada Soccer Sporting Director Kenneth Heiner-Møller and CanWNT head coach Casey Stoney to create a Canada Soccer style of play format, as he explained in an interview released by the organization this week.
“Excited to be here and spending time with Kenneth Heiner-Møller and Casey Stoney, and we’re creating a style of play format for our youth national teams, for the idea of what a Canada DNA can be, for both the men’s and the women’s teams,” Marsch said.
Through that format, the trio are hoping to create more synchronicity between both the men’s and women’s programs, from the youth level all the way up to the senior teams, using their various experiences in the game to help shape this plan.
Through that, they’re hoping that model can not only help Canada’s National Teams be more successful, but that it can also help better develop Canadian soccer players, creating a pipeline that can hopefully range from youth teams across the country and up from there.
“Specifically for our organization, and the development of a more robust National Team program, it’s going to be important for us to understand, very clearly, what we want our teams to play like,” Marsch explained. “An identity also helps everybody execute the plan, and the more that we can be clear about what that identity is, the easier it is for everyone to follow on and understand what their roles are and execute.”
“Then the ultimate goal with that is to take the basis of the style of play and the Canada Soccer identity that we want to create within the National Team program, and see if we can permeate it throughout the entire country,” he continued. “If we can encourage people to think about how they fit in the Canada Soccer ecosystem, and give everyone a directive of the kind of players we want to produce and develop, and how we can connect all the spheres of influence, grassroots, youth teams, academies, CPL, MLS, NSL, and into our first teams.”
“It’s a labour of love to connect those dots right, but we’re creating something very clear, and it will be very special and a foundation for what the sport can be.”
Full, exclusive interview now available on YouTube!
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) August 19, 2026
📺: @CanadaSoccerTV https://t.co/0aPRIaZi31
Yet, that speaks to something that Marsch has often mentioned since becoming the CanMNT coach - he’s spent a lot of time learning about what it means to be Canadian, and through that, better understanding what it means to be a Canadian soccer player.
With the rising level of talent in this country, Marsch feels Canada has what it takes to grow into a top team in this sport, but to do that, players in this country must be developed in a way that allows them to express their talent while embodying that Canadian identity.
So while Heiner-Møller, Stoney and Marsch have spent a lot of time putting together this format, they also understand that the work they do is just a small part of the picture. Ultimately, for this to work, they need buy-in across the board, whether that’s from players, coaches and others involved in the game.
That’s the challenge they’ve looked to tackle, as they combine their unique experiences with those of various stakeholders - through that, they’re hoping to create something that reflects what this sport can be in this country.
“We’ve talked about the fact that in the room we have some good experience,” Marsch said. “But we’re also Danish, English and American, so we know that we also need to invest in people in the (Canadian) community, ex-players, ex-coaches, coaches working in different levels of the pyramid across the country. This is going to be something that won’t just be a reflection of us three; it’ll be a reflection of what the country is and what it can be in the future.”
Interestingly, though, Marsch’s U20 experience proved to be quite formative in that regard.
Marsch has often mentioned that at the senior level, he’s remained impressed with the commitment his players have shown to the program, but in that stint with the U20s, he got to further understand that commitment.
Therefore, in a camp where Marsch entered with the idea of being able to share ideas with his players, he left feeling inspired by what he saw from those he worked with, who helped him show why he’s doing what he’s doing right now.
Yet, that shows why Marsch has committed to the Canadian program the way he has, signing a contract extension through the 2030 World Cup. While he might’ve originally joined the CanMNT because he felt they had a player pool who could fit in well with his sporting ideologies, he’s also seemed to fall in love with the commitment that players and fans have with their country, and he’s looking to use that commitment, in tandem with their love of the sport, to help push soccer to another level going forward.
“I always am impressed whenever I work with any of the players, whether it’s the big pool we created around the first-team, or any of the times we’ve been around the youth teams, I’m always impressed with the character of what a Canadian footballer is, how committed they are to the National Team, what it means for them to be part of the National Team program, what an honour it is for them,” Marsch said. “So anytime I’m around them, it’s a moment where I get to understand what being Canadian is, and the more I get the feel of that, the more I can embody that with everything that I do.”
