KEY TAKEAWAYS: CanMNT fall to Switzerland in Group B finale, setting up South Africa clash in Round of 32
It’s a bittersweet contrast of emotions.
On one hand, the CanMNT will be ecstatic that they’ve achieved what they set out to do at this 2026 World Cup, and that’s to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time. Given that they entered this tournament having failed to earn a point in their previous two visits to a men’s World Cup, they’ll be quite pleased that they were able to qualify for the Round of 32 after earning four points from their three group stage matches.
At the same time, they’ll enter the knockout stage with a bittersweet feeling in their mouths, as they missed a big chance to top their group, falling 2-1 to Switzerland at BC Place Vancouver on Wednesday.
Now, instead of staying in Canada for the Round of 32, as they would’ve done had they won their group, they must head to Los Angeles for their clash against South Africa (which was confirmed later on Wednesday), which is a massive game-changer.
MATCHUP CONFIRMED ✅
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 25, 2026
The #CanMNT will take on South Africa in the Round of 32 match in Los Angeles this Sunday, June 28 (⏰ 3PM ET / 12PM PT) pic.twitter.com/AF4MK1YCJp
Yet, that’s why Canada will look back on this matchup against Switzerland with a twinge of regret in their minds, as they let a massive opportunity slip right through their fingers. On a day when they only needed a draw to secure top spot in the group, they came out with the wrong approach and paid dearly for it in the end with the defeat.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad performance. Canada did well to escape the first half unscathed with the score 0-0, and they finished the game quite well, but their downfall proved to be the 15-minute period that occurred after half-time.
There, Switzerland took over the game and scored both of their goals, which came in the 46th and 57th minute, as they came flying out of the half-time break.
Then, once they had that two-goal lead, they sat back and protected it with their lives, doing well to withstand a late Canadian push. Canada made things interesting in the last 20 minutes of the game, as a 76th-minute goal by Promise David gave them hope they could still salvage the draw they needed to top the group, but the Swiss did well to survive that late push and get the victory over the line in the end.
Yet, that shows why Canada will ponder what went wrong at the start of the second half of this Switzerland clash. Given that they had already had a relatively flat first half by their standards, it was expected that they would come out full-throttle, but they were instead surprised by an impressive Swiss gut-punch.
Now, they’ll have to pick themselves back up quickly - another disadvantage of finishing second is that Canada’s Round of 32 match is now on June 28th, whereas topping the group would’ve meant playing on July 2nd, giving them some extra days to earn some valuable rest. Because of that, they won’t have much time to shift their focus towards that knockout match, which is less than ideal.
At the same time, there are some advantages to that clash against South Africa, who finished second in Group A after shocking South Korea, who many expected would play Canada in this matchup, with a 1-0 win on Wednesday evening. On paper, there’s a lot to like about such a matchup, one that Canada should enter as favourites, which is at least a silver lining in all of this.
Alistair Johnston on reaction to #CanMNT losing to Switzerland 🎙️
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 24, 2026
"Guys, it's Canada Soccer. We're in the knockout stage of a World Cup..." pic.twitter.com/RxmyFaHYT2
Canada still has a very clear path to the Round of 16, which would make this tournament a resounding success, helping build off what was already a landmark group stage performance.
They just won’t get to continue their journey on home soil after this Switzerland defeat. Could that prove to be an advantage or a disadvantage? Only time will tell.
With all of that in mind, however, here are four KEY takeaways from this match.
What went wrong at the back for Canada?
One big surprise about this defeat from a Canadian perspective?
That they conceded two goals, as this was just the second time in their last 18 games that Canada gave up more than one goal in a game (the other was a 2-2 draw against Iceland in a friendly in March earlier this year).
Heading into this World Cup, the big worry about this Canadian team was their inability to score goals, as they’ve proven that they can keep the ball out of their own net.
Unfortunately, though, in a game where they needed their defence to put in another top performance, given that they only needed a draw to top their group, they’ll look back at the defending from both of their goals and wonder what went wrong.
On the first goal, a series of little mistakes came back to haunt them.
CANADA CONCEDES FIRST 😱
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 24, 2026
Switzerland opens the scoring less than a minute into the second half. 🇨🇭 #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/eqHwztRox6
It started with a simple Switzerland ball in behind their backline, one that they should’ve been able to deal with, but they were too slow to react to the diagonal run of Johan Manzambi. From there, though, they were still in a good position to defend Manzambi, as Canada’s right centre back, Luc De Fougerolles, had done a good job of sliding over to help slow down the Swiss attacker.
After that, however, is where things started to go wrong for Canada. Once De Fougerolles slid over, Canada’s left centre back, Derek Cornelius, should’ve filled in for him, but he was too slow in doing so.
Recognizing that, Switzerland’s striker, Breel Embolo, made a brilliant run towards the near post into the space vacated by Cornelius, dragging Canada’s right-back, Alistair Johnston, with him.
By doing that, he completely freed up Rubén Vargas at the back post, and Manzambi realized that, whipping in a low cross that Embolo let run through him to Vargas, who had the time to take a touch and fire in a shot that Canada’s goalkeeper, Maxime Crépeau, had no chance of saving.
Then, on Canada’s second goal, a similar sequence of errors hurt them.
SWITZERLAND GO UP 2-0! 🇨🇭
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 24, 2026
Lovely hold up play from Embolo and he finds Manzambi powers it through Crépeau. #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/9RdAx4eoqW
Once again, a long ball ended up catching them out, as Switzerland did well to send a long ball in behind Cornelius, who had misjudged the flight of the ball, allowing it to bounce behind him. From there, Embolo sprung into action, as he had already cut behind De Fougerolles, and he did well to use his body to bump the young centre back and create a lane for him to receive the ball in stride.
From there, Embolo showed great composure to bring down the ball and draw in both De Fougerolles and Cornelius, before playing a careful slip pass to Manzambi, who Canada’s centre backs had failed to track, and Manzambi did the rest from there, as he powered a shot that slipped through Crépeau’s hands and into the back of the net.
Could Crépeau have done better on the shot? Perhaps, but the first big mistake happened once the ball bounced behind Cornelius, and the second big mistake happened when Canada’s centre backs ended up in a 2v1 against Embolo with Manzambi wide open.
Plus, most frustrating about Canada’s mistakes? They felt avoidable, especially when considering the timing of each goal.
In the first half, Switzerland had done a good job of targeting Canada’s backline with a few dangerous balls in behind their defensive line, as they had clearly identified a potential weakness there.
CRÉPEAU SHUTS THE DOOR EARLY! #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/TblVee97MH
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 24, 2026
Because of that, it’s frustrating that Canada then gave up two goals so early in the second half via those long balls, as head coach Jesse Marsch had the time to adjust their strategy at half-time to ensure that they wouldn’t be burned by those passes in the second stanza.
"Wake the f**k up."
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 24, 2026
Promise David, always a character off the field 🤣 #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/hgaQJ2ANZP
Yet, that’s why Canada will look back on their defending this game with great frustration, as they were unable to adjust to Switzerland’s approach and paid the price for it. For a team that’s been quite good defensively over the past 12 months, that was a surprise to see.
Overall, Canada didn’t actually have that poor of a game defensively, it must be noted, as they conceded just six shots - but that they conceded 1.11 xG and three big chances from those shots shows that when they gave up attempts, they were of the high quality variety (Switzerland generated over 0.18 xG per shot). 
Here's the xG map from this game. Switzerland's attempts are in purple, and as seen above, what they lacked in quantity they made up for with quality (OPTA)
If anything, though, those numbers further show the struggles Canada had defensively against Switzerland - when things went wrong for them at the back, it went quite wrong. 
How did the midfield fare?
Safe to say, it was less than ideal from a Canadian perspective that to start this game, they were without their two best midfielders in Ismaël Koné and Stephen Eustáquio, as Canada started this game with a midfield double-pivot of Nathan Saliba and Mathieu Choinière.
They knew that they’d be without Koné in this game, after his unfortunate leg break in their last match against Qatar, but Eustáquio’s absence came out of nowhere, as he seemed primed to start even despite missing a training session earlier in the week.
Clearly, that missed session seemed to be a bigger deal than previously thought, although Eustáquio seemed to indicate after the game that the decision not to start this game was more of a precautionary one, as he said that he would’ve been available to go a full 90 minutes had this been a knockout match. That he still played over half an hour off the bench seems to back up that claim to a certain extent.
Stephen Eustaquio on missing the start for the #CanMNT, and if he could have gone the full 90 🎙️
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 24, 2026
"If I could have gone, I would have, to be honest... LA is gonna be very tough for us but at the same time we feel confident that we're gonna get the win." pic.twitter.com/wtqwetuk6u
With no Eustáquio to start the match, however, it meant that Canada went with the duo of Saliba and Choinière to hold down their midfield, as Marsch leaned on the pair of former CF Montréal teammates to show off their chemistry.
And, to be fair to both, they were solid in midfield, as they put in functional performances.
Defensively, they did what was asked of them, and offensively, they did well to keep the ball ticking when it came to them in possession.
Because of that, it’s hard to look at their performances and suggest that Canada lost because they were without Koné and Eustáquio to start this match. Choinière and Saliba ultimately did the main thing that would’ve been asked of them, which was to limit mistakes.
At the same time, where Canada really missed Koné and Eustáquio was in the attack. While Choinière and Saliba were solid on the ball, with Choinière completing 24 out of 29 passes (83%) and Saliba 36 out of 41 passes (88%), Canada could’ve used a bit more cutting edge on the ball. 
Here's the combined pass map of Saliba and Choinière. As seen here, they had some good moments in possession, but perhaps weren't aggressive enough (especially when considering the context of the pass Saliba made to Promise David, which only happened later in the game after Stephen Eustáquio came on) (OPTA)
To be fair, Saliba did end up having a pretty decisive moment offensively, as he provided the assist for Promise David’s late goal, making a great run in behind Switzerland’s defence. That he did that after Eustáquio came on shows that Canada’s more conservative approach to start the game was perhaps more by design than anything, and not anything Choinière and Saliba did wrong.
Yet, that was arguably the theme of Canada’s overall performance in this game - instead of showing their usual aggression on both sides of the ball, they were a bit timid. That was a shock, given that the one thing you can reliably expect from this Canadian team is to play with intensity and aggression.
As Marsch said in the lead-up to the game - the worst way to play for a draw is to play for a draw - and that adage proved to be prophetic, especially against a Swiss team eager to punish Canada’s mistakes. 
Could Promise David be primed to start?
Talk about a decisive impact.
It took Promise David just moments to leave his mark on this game, as he entered as a substitute in the 74th minute and had the ball in the back of the net by the 76th minute, scoring with his first touch of the game.
CANADA HAS LIFE! 🇨🇦
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 24, 2026
A FANTASTIC TOUCH FROM NATHAN SALIBA WHO THEN FINDS PROMISE DAVID FOR THE GOAL! #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/QXz87yrrYy
Safe to say, that’s exactly the sort of cameo that David would’ve wanted to have when he put on his kit and ran onto the pitch, as he served another reminder of what he can do even in limited minutes.
Unfortunately for him, he was then unable to find an equalizer, which would’ve been the cherry on top of an already good cameo, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Not only did he have two further shots after his goal, but he also had some dangerous flick-ons, as he was a dangerous presence in the box for set-pieces and crosses late in the game.
For context, by the way, the three shots that David took in his 15 minutes on the pitch were the most any player on both teams took across this entire match, which gives an idea of how dangerous he was. 
Here's all of Promise David's actions from this game. As seen above, he didn't need a lot of touches to cause havoc in Switzerland's box (OPTA)
Yet, that wasn’t all that surprising to see. There’s a reason why David now has four goals and one assist in just 282 minutes of action across 11 caps for this Canadian team, as he knows how to be dangerous in and around the box, even in a limited role.
Why did Promise David not play more minutes today? 🤔
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 25, 2026
The OS crew gives its thoughts 💭#CanMNT pic.twitter.com/vV7w6gwKoI
Because of that, it’ll be fascinating to see if this cameo offers Marsch any temptation to start David against South Africa in the Round of 32. Given that he’s already got a goal and an assist in just 44 minutes of action at this World Cup, he could hopefully provide a similar impact in a starting role.
On a day where Canada’s starting strikers, Jonathan David and Cyle Larin, struggled to find their footing in this game - J. David took three shots (worth 0.22 xG) and created two chances (worth 0.18 xA), while Larin had one shot (worth 0.13 xG) and took just 10 touches - it’s notable how impactful Promise David was.
Promise David gets his head on it, but it's an easy save. #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/FiHWoxZKj0
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 24, 2026
Of course, you can’t forget that P. David is still coming off an injury, which may be the only reason why Marsch doesn’t turn to him to start the next match. If that’s the case, you can understand if Marsch chooses to stick with J. David and Larin, or even Tani Oluwaseyi, to start the next match.
But based on this cameo, there’s no reason why P. David can’t have a run of at least 30 minutes, if not 45 minutes, in that South Africa match, as one thing’s for sure - this performance showed that Canada cannot let him only get a handful of minutes in matches going forward. 
Canada’s knockout round starting XI dilemma:
Speaking of Promise David’s chances of starting a knockout round game, Canada faces a few other dilemmas when it comes to choosing their starting XI for that game.
For example, the big one that many are wondering about is if they’ll be able to rely on Moïse Bombito, as Marsch seemed to heavily hint in the lead-up to this game that Bombito could be available to start a game if needed.
Granted, Marsch also seemed to indicate that Alphonso Davies was going to feature off the bench, just to say that was a decoy designed to fool Switzerland, so it’s hard to truly know what Bombito’s status was.
But given Canada’s defensive struggles in this game, you have to wonder if there’s a temptation to start Bombito in that knockout match, especially if he can use these next few days to make further progress in his push to return to full strength.
Otherwise, though, to get back to Davies, his availability also remains a big question mark. While it was unfortunate that he didn’t end up seeing the field for Canada during the group stage, that will be forgotten if he can play a role in the knockout stage, as these were the games that Canada were hoping he’d be able to provide an impact in when they made the decision to bring him to this tournament.
The OS crew gives its thoughts on Jesse Marsch's decoy comments about Alphonso Davies 🗣️👀#CanMNT pic.twitter.com/Vg5Ul6MFQ5
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 25, 2026
If he’s unable to feature at all once again, there will be question marks about the decision to bring him over a healthy player, especially when seeing the way Canada has been affected by the injuries they’ve had this tournament, such as the one to Koné and the muscle injury that has afflicted Alfie Jones. Certainly, they could’ve used an extra body on their roster to help ease the concern those two injuries have caused them.
Lastly, Canada will hope that Eustáquio doesn’t suffer any setbacks in his recovery over the next few days, because no matter how confident he was in the comments he made after the game, Canada can’t be fully sure he’s ready to go until the game comes around. Given his importance to this team’s midfield, Marsch will want to lean on him as a starter.
Then, even beyond the injuries, Canada will have a few other questions about their lineup.
For example, do they tweak anything at full back, as it feels surprising that Niko Sigur has played just seven minutes in this tournament - could he be leaned on to start a game? It’s unlikely, as Richie Laryea and Alistair Johnston have been good all tournament (even if Johnston didn’t have his best game against Switzerland), but the temptation is there.
Moving up the field, what does Canada do in midfield? Saliba’s the logical name to start alongside Eustáquio (if you assume he’s available), but they could also turn to Sigur there, too, if needed.
Then, on the wing, could Tajon Buchanan drop to the bench after a quiet performance by his standards, as he created just one chance (worth 0.02 xA), failing to generate a shot or complete a dribble? With Canada’s options out wide, which include Liam Millar, Jacob Shaffelburg and Jayden Nelson, there could be the temptation to shake something up there, as Canada will need to be dangerous out wide to break down South Africa’s solid defensive shape.
And, there’s the never-ending question that Canada has up front - even if they aren’t ready to push Promise David to start, do you consider slotting in Tani Oluwaseyi for Cyle Larin? As this Switzerland game showed, while Larin deserved to start based on his form (it’s hard to not start a striker who has scored in back-to-back games), there was an argument to be made that Oluwaseyi could’ve gotten the nod when considering the style of play that Switzerland employed, as his speed could’ve been very useful in transition moments.
Yet, all of these questions show the challenge that Marsch faces heading into this South Africa clash.
Given the stakes of that game, does he make minimal changes and stick with a more veteran lineup? Or does he react to what he learned from this final match against Switzerland and the group stage at large, shaking up the lineup a bit?
Both approaches have pros and cons, but after playing things relatively safely in this Switzerland match, you have to wonder if Canada might be tempted to go with the more aggressive option - at the very least, you have to imagine they rock the boat a bit to try and spark a livelier performance.
One thing’s for sure - they won’t be able to afford another timid performance like this one against South Africa. It shows how good this team has become that they still made a game of it against a very good team despite not playing their best, but they cannot let that happen again in their next game (especially considering that they’ll be favourites to win that match this time).
No matter what happens against South Africa, they’ll need to come out with their usual aggressive style, and picking the right lineup will help them do that.
