AGR: The CanMNT needs to score more goals ahead of the World Cup - here's who needs to step up
As the CanMNT get set for two crucial friendlies in Toronto this week, they’ll have plenty to work on in those matches against Iceland and Tunisia, which come as part of their ongoing preparations for the World Cup this summer.
While a lot of their focus in those matches will be on monitoring key roster battles and making specific tactical adjustments, another big priority for Canada will be quite simple: to score more goals.
It can’t be forgotten that while they were able to score two goals in their last ‘A’ friendly, a 2-0 win vs. Venezuela in November, they had previously gone three games without scoring before that victory. In fact, across their last nine ‘A’ matches (their January 2026 1-0 ‘Camp Poutine’ win vs. Guatemala is excluded from all of this data as a result), they’ve scored just 10 goals, with three out of 10 of those goals (30%) coming in Canada’s 3-0 win vs. Romania last September.
GOAL 🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) November 19, 2025
Ismael Kone gets the scoring started for the CanMNT 🇨🇦 vs. Venezuela 🇻🇪 with a great first touch setting up his finish 🎯
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Other than that Romania game, the win over Venezuela and a 2-0 win vs. El Salvador at last summer’s Gold Cup are the lone other matches in which Canada even scored more than one goal in a game across that stretch. Given that they were heavily expected to beat a Venezuela team not going to the World Cup, and that they only scored their two goals against El Salvador after their opponents went down to nine players, even those matches help further paint the picture when it comes to Canada’s current struggles in front of goal.
Because of that, this window will be a great chance for them to change that narrative. With a pair of home friendlies, there’s no better way for Canada to find a bit of form offensively, as before getting held scoreless for home friendlies against Ecuador in Toronto and Australia in Montréal last November and October, respectively, Canada had scored 15 goals in their previous five home matches.
Yes, that was largely aided by a 6-0 dismantling of Honduras in Vancouver during last summer’s Gold Cup, but it can’t be forgotten that a 4-2 win vs. Ukraine in Toronto weeks earlier was a great performance that shows what this Canadian team can do against solid opposition when at their best.
When looking back at that Ukraine game, however, two things stand out - and those themes are central to what Canada will want to work on offensively in this window.
Firstly, there’s the fact that Jonathan David scored a brace, as he had one of his best games in a Canadian shirt.
GOAL 🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 7, 2025
JONATHAN DAVID opens the scoring, rounding off a bit of brilliance by Tajon Buchanan ✨#CanMNT go up 1-0 over Ukraine early in this one 😎
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When looking back at the numbers, you can see why that was the case, as his two goals came from four shots (worth 1.175 xG), with all of those shots coming inside the box. Then, on top of that, he also had four touches in the box, created two chances (including one big chance), and completed all 14 of his passes.
GOAL 🇨🇦🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 7, 2025
TAJON TO J. DAVID AGAIN 🤯
Buchanan's ice-cold first touch sets up a cross for an even colder glancing header by Jonathan David and the #CanMNT go up 2-0 over Ukraine 🇺🇦
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He did miss two big chances, so his day wasn’t perfect, but overall, you could live with that, given that he found his two goals - and one of his goals came immediately after he missed one of those big chances, it must be remembered.
Secondly, the other thing that stood out from that Ukraine match is that Canada got secondary offensive support from a few other players, as Promise David scored his first CanMNT goal in his debut, while Tajon Buchanan chipped in with a late goal.
GOAL 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 7, 2025
TAJON BUCHANAN GETS HIS GOAL 😎#CanMNT go up 4-0 over Ukraine 🇺🇦 as Tajon scores off a set piece routine ✨
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That’s not an insignificant detail, as Canada has been quite reliant on Jonathan David since Jesse Marsch’s arrival as head coach - David has scored 11 of the 34 goals they’ve generated since Marsch’s Canada coaching debut in June of 2024 (32%).
While that’s not necessarily a bad thing - it’d be foolish for Canada not to rely on David’s offensive contributions, since he’s a great striker - it highlights that there haven’t always been enough other sources of goals around him.
And at a time when David enters this camp not in the greatest form, as he hasn’t scored for his club, Juventus, since February 1st, it puts extra pressure on Canada’s supporting cast to step up more than ever. It must be remembered that when David scored those two goals against Ukraine, he was coming off an excellent 25-goal campaign with Ligue 1 side Lille - a far cry from the seven goals he’s so far scored for Juventus in his first season with the club in 2025-2026.
A goal and an assist for the Canadian today 🔥
— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) January 6, 2026
Jonathan David is having a day 👏 pic.twitter.com/Zb9cZkXTVT
It’s no coincidence that since David made his debut for the Italian giants last August, he’s struggled a bit in front of goal for Canada - he’s scored just once in the six games he’s played for his country since his first game for the Old Lady.
At the end of the day, it always helps a striker to be in form at the club level, even if that form isn’t as significant for an established forward like David as it is for others in the Canadian set-up. 
Now, though, what that shows is the challenge that Canada faces in this camp - they must find a way to get David going again, while also imploring the supporting cast around him to also chip in with goals.
RELATED: THE BREAKDOWN: Diving into the numbers behind the CanMNT's 2025 results
To begin with David, the equation is quite simple - he needs to take more touches in the box, and shoot the ball more. To that point, consider this - in his last six Canada games, he’s had as many shots (four) as he did in that aforementioned Ukraine match, and has averaged just two touches per game across those six matches.
Plus, to further add context to those numbers, three of those four shots from his last six games were blocked, meaning that the only shot he put on target he’s had across that span, which came against Romania, he scored.
GOAL 🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 5, 2025
JONATHAN DAVID heads home to give the CanMNT an early 1-0 lead over Romania 🇷🇴
🔴 Watch LIVE on TSN & OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/wkqp1MdCBr
No matter how out of form he’s been across that stretch, the most repeatable thing a striker can do is take touches in dangerous areas, and to shoot the ball often - as the saying goes, you can’t score goals without taking shots, and David hasn’t been taking many of them. 
Here's a look at Jonathan David's touches per game (in red) and goals per game (in blue) since Jesse Marsch's arrival. As seen here, when he was busiest in the box, he was most in form (OPTA)
There’s been a lot of debate about David’s positioning as a reason for those struggles, and understandably so - he’s been playing a lot deeper on the pitch as more of a #10 in Jesse Marsch’s system. At the same time, he’s almost exclusively played in that role since Marsch’s arrival, and he’s still scored those 11 goals, and as matches like the Ukraine one showed, he can still be dangerous around the box when playing in that position.
Because of that, a big goal for Canada will be to make sure that they get David touches in and around the box, and that he finds a way to be more trigger-happy. He doesn’t necessarily have to score a goal this window (although it’d go a long way towards helping his confidence), but if he can prove to be dangerous in his movement and actions, that’ll be something to build off going forward.
It’s no coincidence that in these six games where David has gone cold, Canada’s ability to generate offence plummeted, as they averaged just 0.99 xG on 10.16 shots per game across that span. 
Here's a graphic from a 'THE BREAKDOWN' piece from last year, looking at Canada's goals and xG for per game they played in 2025. As seen above, it trended downward at the end of the year, just when David began to struggle (OPTA)
Otherwise, as mentioned earlier, another big goal for Canada will be to push some of their other players to step up with goals. In particular, look for them to push their other strikers that will pair with David, their wingers, and their midfielders to step up with goals.
For example, it stands out massively that since Marsch has taken over, the other strikers that have also played up front have combined for just six goals, with three coming from Promise David (who is injured this camp and a doubt for the World Cup), two coming from Tani Oluwaseyi and one coming from Cyle Larin.
If Canada’s going to use two strikers, which they’ll likely do for reasons related to their pressing structure as much as anything, they’ll need more production from those forwards. Or else, many will wonder why they don’t try a structure that pushes Jonathan David up front in a 4-2-3-1, opening the door for Canada to insert a third midfielder such as Nathan Saliba, Mathieu Choiniére or Niko Sigur alongside their preferred midfield duo of Stephen Eustáquio and Ismaël Koné.
Given how good Saliba, Choinière and Sigur have been when called upon for Canada, that could only help Canada be more robust in an area where games are often won and lost at the highest level - and it can’t hurt that Saliba, Sigur and Koné have combined for six goals since Marsch took over, just as many as the other forwards, either.
GOAL 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 5, 2025
Niko Sigur STARTS and FINISHES the counter-attack with a BANGER 🚀
Those CanMNT starting XI locks are starting to look a little flimsy, no? 🔓
🔴 Watch LIVE on TSN & OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/iYecrI50Sx
Considering that, and the fact that David would be naturally forced to play closer towards the other team’s goal in that 4-2-3-1 formation, leading him to take more touches in the box and more shots, there are a lot of benefits to such a change.
To return to the original discussion, however, all of that shows why Marsch will need some of his other forwards to step up with more goals, or else that idea to switch formations will look more and more enticing (and it’s already a tantalizing proposition). That forwards not named David have as many combined goals as Koné, Saliba and Sigur, two midfielders and one full back (Sigur has mostly played there for Canada, even if he can also feature in midfield), just underscores that.
In particular, one name to watch is Cyle Larin, who enters this camp in good form - he’s scored four goals in 611 minutes of action across all competitions for EFL Championship side Southampton since joining them on loan in January, which is an excellent return. Given that Larin is typically a streaky scorer, it’d be great if he could step up with a goal or two in this camp after scoring just once in his last 21 appearances for Canada, especially since he seems poised to start a game for Canada for just the fourth time since the start of 2025 in this window. 
Of course, Marsch wouldn’t complain if Tani Oluwaseyi adds to the two goals he’s scored in 21 appearances (all coming under Marsch), either, with Oluwaseyi likely to start whichever game Larin doesn’t this window, but with Oluwaseyi struggling for minutes at the club level, there’s less pressure on him to do that - and his inclusion in Canada’s starting lineup is often tied to his ability to defend really well from the front, anyways.
Otherwise, look for Canada’s wingers to step up with goals, especially the trio of Tajon Buchanan, Ali Ahmed and Liam Millar. Buchanan has proven to be pretty reliable in that regard, scoring four goals for Canada last year, but Ahmed and Millar have just two combined goals for Canada. In particular, with Ahmed having scored four goals in 15 appearances since joining EFL Championship side Norwich City this winter, he’ll want to translate some of that goalscoring form to Canada, given that he’s established himself as a key starter under Marsch with his all-around play over the last 16 months.
Ali reacting quickest ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/DrJPy9toHl
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) March 14, 2026
Elsewhere, don’t sleep on the midfielders, who, as seen earlier, have actually done a decent job of chipping in with goals. With no Stephen Eustáquio this window due to an injury, Saliba and Koné are the ones to watch here (although Koné will only play in one game due to a suspension for a red card earned last November), with Choinière a wildcard to watch out for, having shown a bit of goalscoring touch for his club, LAFC, lately.
Lastly, while they weren’t mentioned earlier, one other area worth watching is off the bench, as Canada could certainly use some more contributions from players coming into the game with fresh legs. Surprisingly, just four of their 34 goals (11.7%) scored under Marsch have come from substitutes, as they haven’t been able to reliably depend on goals from that avenue.
Given how aggressive Canada plays, that’s surprising, as you’d think they’d do a great job of wearing down teams with their pressing before bringing in fresh legs to capitalize on that, but they haven’t quite found the right balance there.
With Canada’s improved depth, they’ve got more players than ever to turn to off the bench - just among some of the players mentioned earlier, Millar, Choinière, Saliba, and whichever of the strikers who don’t pair with Jonathan David will be some of the names Marsch can lean on when he’s got everyone available to him.
Yet, that just gives an idea of the players Canada will be leaning on in order to score more goals. Having established themselves as a solid defensive team under Marsch, they’ll now want to take advantage of that solidity by scoring the goals required to turn good defensive performances into victories. 
Here's another graphic from a 'THE BREAKDOWN' piece from last year, looking at Canada's overall offensive numbers (shots, big chances, touches in the box). As seen here, Canada struggled to get into dangerous areas in some of their last games of 2025 (OPTA)
That’ll start with the play of some of the individuals highlighted above, yes, but it’ll also come from improved attacking patterns, along with carefully orchestrated set-pieces, too.
RELATED: THE BREAKDOWN: How can the CanMNT fix attacking woes against low blocks?
Because of that, look for them to take advantage of the 180 minutes of game action they’ll play this window to build some offensive momentum, before carrying that into their final two friendlies in June, and then the World Cup itself later that month.
While Canada’s defensive game gives them a chance at doing well during the World Cup, goals will be what determines their future success - especially if they can find a balance between being solid without the ball and lethal with it.
To be fair, that’s a balance that only the truly elite ever master, but that’s not to say Canada can’t find a better equilibrium, one that they’ll want to showcase as soon as this window.
