Form Guide: CanWNT players star at World Sevens, CanMNT's Buchanan, Koné score again

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With Canada learning its group for the 2026 World Cup, the tournament now feels closer than ever. Perhaps that played a role in another outstanding week for Canadian men’s national team players, several of whom scored significant goals across Europe, and in the MLS Cup final this week.

Plus, two CanWNT players played starring roles at the World Sevens tournament down in Fort Lauderdale.

Here are the biggest stories involving Canadian players this past week: 

Koné’s quality shines through with Sassuolo

It felt like all he needed was a chance. After an incredibly difficult 2024-25 season, where he was frozen out by Marseille before going on loan to Rennes, Ismaël Koné has clearly found a home in Italy with Sassuolo. 

On Saturday, he scored his second goal of the season in a 3-1 win over Fiorentina. After spending last season in Serie B, Sassuolo currently sit in eighth place, just four points outside of the European places. Kone has started 12 of 14 matches this season. 

Another sign of his quality this year? Whispers are starting to emerge that he is drawing interest from some of Serie A’s top teams. Right now, however, in a World Cup year, both the minutes and quality of minutes he is earning with Sassuolo have been outstanding for a player looking to lock down a starting spot for Canada in 2026. 

Adriana Leon, Kailen Sheridan win World Sevens 

On Sunday, the San Diego Wave won the World Seven Football title, defeating Tigres 3-0 in the final, and a pair of Canadians played a key role in the victory. 

Goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan kept a clean sheet. But Adriana Leon stole the show, scoring twice in the final. After Simi Awujo’s heroics in the European edition of the competition, the fledgling tournament has been a good source of confidence for Canadian players. 

The unique competition, which features some of the best women’s sides in the world playing a seven-a-side format during their league off-season. The Wave took home a top prize of $2 million, not a bad week down in Fort Lauderdale. 

During the group stage, Kaylee Hunter put in some strong performances for AFC Toronto, who went 1-0-2 to finish third in their group. 

Buchanan does the business again in La Liga action 

Another Canadian player on the redemption tour this season is Tajon Buchanan, and that continued with his fifth La Liga goal of the campaign on Saturday as he opened the scoring in stoppage time during Villarreal’s 2-0 win over Getafe. 

Buchanan’s goal was a thing of beauty, as he cut in from the right and unleashed a strike across goal that stood as the Yellow Submarines' opener. Going 80 minutes in what was already his 12th start of the campaign, Buchanan has already played more than twice as many minutes this year as he did all of last season. 

As one of Canada’s most important players, it’s hard to imagine this year going better for the Canadian winger as a consistent and productive starter for a team legitimately making a push at the top of the table in Spain. 

In other action… 

CanMNT 

Ali Ahmed’s incredible MLS Cup playoff campaign concluded on Saturday with a goal in the MLS Cup final. Unfortunately, his Vancouver FC side lost 3-1 to Inter Miami, but Ahmed was top quality again in 68 minutes of action despite being under the weather. 

OH MY. Vancouver almost get another!@WhitecapsFC // MLS Cup pres. by Audi pic.twitter.com/LIC93ZzGDN

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 6, 2025

Promise David came off the bench to score the winner for Union Saint-Gilloise against Zulte Waregem in the Belgian Cup round of 16. It was his 10th goal of the campaign, and second in two games in the domestic cup competition. 

Theo Bair just can’t be stopped at the moment, with another goal for Lausanne in Swiss Cup action. Unfortunately, his club lost to Yverdon in extra time. He went the full 90 against Lugano in the league this weekend, but the match ended 0-0. 

Alfie Jones played the full 90 minutes in a 4-1 win for Middlesbrough against Hull City. 

Niko Sigur played 74 minutes in a 1-1 draw between Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb in league action, with Split conceding a heartbreaking equalizer in the 12th minute of stoppage time. 

Stephen Eustáquio was an unused sub in Porto’s 2-0 win over Tondela. He did go the full 90 in a 3-1 loss to Vitória SC in the Taça da Liga. 

Nathan Saliba came off the bench in the 60th minute of a 4-0 loss for Anderlecht against Westerlo in the league. He also played 80 minutes in a 3-1 win over Genk in the Belgian Cup. 

Liam Millar gave another good news story for the national team this week as he returned from injury to play the final 23 minutes of Hull City’s 4-1 loss to Middlesbrough. Millar has been excellent in limited minutes for both club and country this year, and ideally, as the minutes increase, those strong performances continue. 

Tani Oluwaseyi came off the bench in the 81st minute of Villarreal’s 2-0 win over Getafe. He also played the full match as Villarreal defeated Antoniano in the Copa del Rey on penalties. 

Jonathan David played the second half of Juventus’s 2-1 loss to Napoli. 

 

CanWNT 

Olivia Smith opened the scoring in a 2-1 win over her former side Liverpool on Saturday. 

Sabrina D’Angelo made one save in a 2-1 loss to Tottenham on Sunday. 

Ashley Lawrence came off the bench as a 45th-minute substitute as OL Lyonnes defeated Dijon 3-0. 

Marie Levasseur went the full 90 for Montpellier in a 2-1 loss to Emily Burns and Nantes. 

Vanessa Gilles joined Bayern’s 5-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 76th minute. 

Jayde Riviére started and went 77 minutes in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over West Ham. Simi Awujo played seven minutes off the bench. 

Jade Rose played the full 90 in Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over Leicester City. 

Evelyne Viens went 60 minutes as Roma drew 1-1 with Juventus in a big match in Italy.