🎙️PRESS CONFERENCE: Jesse Marsch on CanMNT injuries, March roster, and more 🗣️
The injuries continue to mount for the CanMNT, as several of their key players are in a race to be fit in time for this summer’s World Cup.
As a result, they left out several important regulars from their latest squad, which they named on Thursday ahead of friendlies against Iceland and Tunisia later this month.
Then, even among those included in Canada’s 28-player squad, some won’t even be able to fully participate in this upcoming camp, as they continue to work their way back from those injuries.
With that in mind, head coach Jesse Marsch opted to issue a full update on all of those players in his post-squad announcement press conference - here’s all that he had to say about each individual.
Alphonso Davies:
After missing most of 2025 with a major knee injury sustained at the Concacaf Nations League finals in March of last year, only returning to full health last December, Davies was hoping to be fit for this March window, but he then suffered two different hamstring injuries over the last two months.
The good news is that his latest injury, which was sustained in Bayern Munich’s first leg matchup against Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League earlier this month, doesn’t appear to be too bad, with Davies already back in individual training with Bayern.
Despite that, Marsch opted to leave Davies out of this squad, however, preferring to let his captain rehab the injury with his club, instead of pushing for limited minutes with Canada.
“I'm the one who made the decision to leave Alphonso in Munich,” Marsch offered. “We've had a very good relationship with Bayern over the last eight months, and after the meeting that we had with them, I think there's been really good dialogue. I've been there a few times to see the club. I've been there a few times to see Alphonso.”
“Given everything, we know that even though this injury is not so bad, and theoretically we could bring him into camp, and maybe he could be able to play in limited minutes in the second game, right now, the emphasis for all of our players that are either in injury situations or return to play situations is to nurse them and do whatever is necessary to get them back to 100% fitness and in form for June and May.”
“So with Alphonso, we decided to leave them there and for him to just continue all of what is necessary for him to get himself back to absolute 100%.”
Stephen Eustáquio:
After a hot start to the season for LAFC, Eustáquio picked up a freak injury a few weeks ago, suffering a dead leg after running into a referee in an MLS matchup against FC Dallas.
What was supposed to be a straightforward recovery for the midfielder, however, became a lot more complicated after Eustáquio then aggravated the injury during a deep tissue massage - he’s now out for a few weeks as he recovers from a hematoma.
“What happened with him is that after running into the referee two weeks ago and picking up a dead leg, then, in his recovery protocols, he got a deep tissue massage, and in that process, it actually ruptured the dead leg that he had and created a hematoma,” Marsch explained. “So after we thought that we were going to get him back for this camp pretty easily, it means that he will be out for two, three or maybe four weeks in his recovery process.”
“He's obviously frustrated, but we've had good dialogue with LAFC and tried to support them and Stephen to get him back to full health, so we thought for him, travelling is not a good plan for what his recovery needs.”
Derek Cornelius:
Finally back and healthy after a long-term muscle injury, Cornelius’s integration back into the Rangers squad hasn’t been as smooth as hoped, as he’s now been reported to have been training with their youth team - something Marsch confirmed on Thursday.
At the moment, it remains to be seen whether or not Cornelius will be able to get himself back into the Rangers’ first team, but in the meantime, he will be involved in this Canadian camp - and then all parties will see from there what the best course of action will be for the centre back.
“Derek, coming off a long injury, has now been healthy and training for several weeks,” Marsch said. “It’s been reported that he's now training with the academy there at Rangers, so I've been in contact with his coach and Derek, and we’ve been working through this for all parties to do what's best for Derek.”
“Their coach feels confident with the group that he has, which has meant that Derek hasn't had the opportunity to win his spot back into the team, but Derek is still very focused on everything necessary to make sure that he's ready for Canada.”
Luc De Fougerolles:
After suffering an ankle injury a few weeks ago, centre back Luc De Fougerolles returned to training for FCV Dender this week, and should be fully involved in this Canadian camp - although he’ll likely be on some sort of minutes restriction for the matches.
“Luc has been back on the pitch this week and is feeling really good,” Marsch said. “Today was a little bit of a down day for him, but he will be available (for us) in training with the idea that we'll probably use him in limited minutes in one game, and hopefully maybe the second game even more, but we'll see exactly where he's at.”
Moïse Bombito and Alistair Johnston:
Also back in this squad are Moïse Bombito and Alistair Johnston, as Bombito continues to recover from a leg fracture sustained, while Johnston is working his way back from a hamstring injury - that’s good news for a Canadian backline that has missed Bombito’s presence at centre back, and Johnston’s at right back.
Neither will feature in any of the friendlies this month, but they’ll train with the team and be around the group, with the hope being that they’ll return to action for their clubs in the coming weeks.
“Moïse and Alistair are two that, for a long time, we have committed to having them come in and then having them be around the team,” Marsch said. “Which I think more than anything, was important mentally for them, but also for them to get up to speed after they've missed a lot of windows, so they will be coming.”
Promise David:
Fresh off hip surgery, it remains to be seen whether or not David will return in time for the World Cup, as even the optimistic side of a 3-5 month recovery process puts him right up against the start of the tournament.
As expected, he’s been pushing hard to accelerate that timeline, but it’s no secret that he’s in a race against time - although Marsch confirmed that he wants to give the Union St-Gilloise striker every opportunity to make the squad.
“Promise is doing all of his protocols post-surgery, “Marsch said. “He and the club are doing everything they can to help support him to try and speed up his recovery process, to make him as eligible as possible for the summer. He's in a fight against time, we all know that, but we're all supporting him and giving him the best chance possible to get himself ready for the World Cup.”
Alfie Jones:
Coming off ankle surgery at the beginning of 2026, Jones is close to a return to action, but is still not yet in team training for Middlesbrough.
Based on Marsch’s comments, though, it appears a return is imminent for the centre back not long after the international window.
“Alfie is in a good way, he’s back on the pitch as well, but not quite in team training,” Marsch said. “I felt that he needed to stay (in England) versus coming in to get himself going.”
Jacob Shaffelburg:
After having surgery for a degenerative groin issue, Jacob Shaffelburg has suffered a bit of a setback in his recovery, picking up a small hamstring injury.
It doesn’t sound like it’ll affect the LAFC winger too much in the long-term, but that just means that he won’t be involved in this camp as a result of that.
“In his return to play, he picked up a small hamstring (injury), nothing to be too alarmed about, but it delayed his recovery, so we felt that his staying in LA was important,” Marsch said.
Theo Bair:
Despite recently returning to first-team action for Lausanne-Sport after an ankle injury, Bair will stay with his club during this window, with his focus for the forward being to recapture the excellent form he had at the start of the 2025-2026 season.
On loan to the Swiss club, Bair had 10 goals in 22 games before his injury, for context, showing how good he was over that span - and why Marsch wants him to refind that level.
“We were planning on having him come in when we were going with a group of 30 that were going to compete in as part of the process for what this summer was going to become,” Marsch explained. “But he's still working on his full health, fitness and form, so we decided to leave him with Lausanne and make sure that his ankle is at 100%.”
“I told him the most important thing for him is to get himself back to the form that he was at the beginning of the season, and that will help make the best case possible for us to take him to the World Cup.”
Sam Adekugbe:
Out with a long-term Achilles injury sustained last June while with the CanmNT, Adekugbe is slowly inching towards a return to action with the Vancouver Whitecaps. The full back has been training with them for a while, dating back to last year, but has yet to be cleared for full action - something he hopes changes sometime in April or May.
“Sam is back on the pitch and working in a really good direction,” Marsch said. “He also wanted to come into camp, but I explained to him that he should focus entirely on himself and get himself 100% back to form and fitness to try to qualify himself for the squad for the summer.”
