SCOUTING REPORT: What to expect from CanMNT's Canadian Shield tests vs. Ukraine, Côte d'Ivoire?
The CanMNT will continue preparation for the 2026 World Cup this week, as they take on Ukraine and Côte d’Ivoire in a pair of friendlies as part of the inaugural Canadian Shield tournament.
With the World Cup just over a year away, these games come at a fitting time, too, as Canada gets prepared for a busy summer, with the 2025 Gold Cup just around the corner. As a reminder, Canada kicks off their journey through that tournament with a match vs. Honduras at BC Place on June 17th.
All of these games will certainly help World Cup preparation, in more ways than one. For example, it’s worth noting that Canada’s World Cup schedule next year will look similar to what awaits them this month - they open their World Cup on June 12th, 2026, in Toronto, before heading to Vancouver to end off the group stage with matches on June 18th and June 24th.
Because of that, it’s quite cool that they’ll be playing these 2025 games in those same stadiums - that’ll be a huge benefit for them in terms of future acclimatization, which is one of the big advantages of co-hosting a World Cup.
Of course, one of the big disadvantages of co-hosting is a lack of competitive games with no World Cup qualifiers, which is why this month is so crucial. The Gold Cup will be massive, in particular, as it’ll be Canada’s last competitive games before the World Cup, with a swath of friendlies awaiting them over the next 13 months, starting with these Canadian Shield matches.
Yet, as these Shield matches show, there can be a lot of value in those friendlies, especially when faced off against certain opponents.
Certainly, Canada have done a great job of finding two strong opponents in Ukraine and Côte d’Ivoire, while New Zealand, one of seven teams already qualified for next summer’s World Cup, rounds off the field of teams that’ll participate in this invitational tournament. Just looking at that quartet of teams, it promises to be a fierce battle to lift that Shield.
CANMNT Squad announced for The Canadian Shield Tournament in Toronto 🇨🇦🛡️
— CANMNT (@CANMNT_Official) May 21, 2025
The 23 players who will represent Canada in the inaugural Canadian Shield Tournament at BMO Field this summer ⬇️
Canada is set to take on Ukraine on Saturday 7 June and Côte D’Ivoire on Tuesday 10 June. pic.twitter.com/k5qCgOjOi5
For Canada, however, while winning that trophy would certainly be nice, they’ll be focused on continuing World Cup preparation, and to do that, they’ll need to make the most of what Ukraine and Côte d’Ivoire have to offer.
With that, here’s a look at what to expect from both teams in these games, as well as what Canada will want to get out of both matches.
Ukraine looking to bring UEFA success to global stage:
It’s going to be a big year for Ukraine, who are looking to return to the World Cup for the first time since 2006, where they reached the quarter-finals in their first tournament, falling to eventual champions Italy 3-0.
Since then, they’ve become a fixture at the top level of UEFA competitions, qualifying for four straight European championships between 2012 and 2024 after never having reached that tournament before 2012, and they’ve done well in the UEFA Nations League, even spending some time in League A in 2020-2021, otherwise sticking in League B.
They did have a rough end to each of their most recent Euro and Nations League journeys - they failed to advance past the group stage of the 2024 Euros despite accumulating four points, as they finished in an unprecedented four-way tie that placed them last in tiebreakers, and then missed out on a chance for promotion to League A for the next Nations League, as Belgium beat them 4-3 on aggregate in a playoff in March despite Ukraine carving out a 3-1 leg one lead at home.
Despite solid European results, however, World Cup qualification has proved to be elusive. Not only that, but it’s been something that they’ve narrowly missed out on so many times - they lost 1-0 to Wales in a one-game playoff in 2022 World Cup qualifiers, were just three points away from reaching the playoffs (and five points from qualifying automatically) in 2018 World Cup qualifiers, fell 3-2 on aggregate to France in the playoffs during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers (after missing out on automatic qualification by one point), and lost 1-0 on aggregate to Greece in the playoffs during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
Safe to say, after all of that heartbreak, they’d love nothing more than to return to North America for the World Cup next summer. It won’t be easy, as they’ve been drawn with France in their UEFA World Cup qualifying group (Group D), where only one automatic spot is up for grabs, but that’s the nature of UEFA’s qualifying process, which can be quite ruthless.
With World Cup qualifying starting for Ukraine in the fall, this window is a great chance for them to play some different opposition, as they haven’t played any countries outside of UEFA since facing Bahrain in a friendly ahead of the 2021 Euros.
Because of that, look for them to make the most of this opportunity. They’ve brought a pretty strong roster to Canada, but a young one, with no players over 29 in the squad, a sign of the transition they’re going through as a team.
🇨🇦 Head coach of the Ukrainian NT Serhiy Rebrov has announced the list of players he has called up to prepare for the matches of the Canadian Shield tournament in Toronto in June.
— Ukrainian Association of Football (@uafukraine) May 19, 2025
🗓️ 07/06 🤝 Canada
🗓️ 10/06 🤝 New Zealand pic.twitter.com/55PDeHnGtv
Led by a strong contingent of players at top European clubs, and a head coach in Serhiy Rebrov who has had the chance to work with this group since 2023, they feel in a good place with a big year looming.
In terms of what to expect from this team, Ukraine has done well to compete in UEFA thanks to their solid defensive play, as they’ve held teams to an average of 1.21 xG on 12.36 shots over the past 12 months in all UEFA competitions, meaning they’ve given up less than 0.10 xG per shot. For a team that’s only held 48% of the ball, that’s a credit to their strong defensive shape, as despite having a PPDA (passes per defensive action) of 14.23, indicating that they don’t press as much, they keep opponents to an average shot distance of just under 20 yards.
They slipped a bit recently against Belgium, with the three goals they conceded in the second leg of their Nations League promotion playoffs the third time they’ve conceded three or more goals since the start of the Euros, so that’s something to watch - for as good as their overall defensive underlying numbers are, they’ve had a few lapses.
Sitting in a 4-1-4-1, they’ll hope that defensive shape can push them to the World Cup, as that’ll be crucial given that they’ve got to face France twice and get results out of those matches to qualify directly, so they’ll hope they avoid those big lapses in those matches, in particular.
Certainly, they’ll need their defence to be good to reach a World Cup, too, as they’ve otherwise struggled a bit in the attack, scoring just two goals at last summer’s Euros, averaging just 1.18 goals per game since the start of that tournament. Not only that, but they’re generating just 1.12 xG despite taking 12.09 shots per game, too, as they struggle to create quality opportunities in open play. They are decent on set-pieces and from crosses, however, which would explain why they have such low xG despite generating a decent shot volume.
For a team that already takes a lot of long shots - they have an average shot distance of 19.06 yards - they’ll want to be much more dangerous in the box going forward. Yet, that’s the challenge they face, as they play quite directly, which is expected from a team that is solid defensively, so they need to be more ruthless with the chances that they get, and find ways to get into the box with more regularity.
Because of that, it’ll be interesting to see how they approach this Canada match. Unlike in UEFA, where Ukraine has often sat back out of instinct, they’ll be facing a Canadian team that likes to press, which may force Ukraine to hold onto more of the ball. That’s important, as Ukraine have actually not won a game in which they’ve held more possession over the last year - something that Canada will certainly take note of.
Lastly, it’s worth noting that Ukraine have brought a quality squad to Toronto. They’re without top players like Everton’s Vitaliy Mykolenko and Roma’s Artem Dovbyk, and are dealing with the ongoing unavailability of Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk, but they’ve otherwise got a strong squad.
In goal, Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin and Benfica’s Anatoliy Trubin will battle for minutes, while Bournemouth’s Illya Zabarnyi is a rock at the back. Then, higher up the pitch, Oleksandr Zinchenko is the team’s heartbeat in midfield, where he’s also supported by Brentford’s Yehor Yarmolyuk and Girona’s Viktor Tsyhankov, while Olympiacos’s Roman Yaremchuk still leads the line and remains a dangerous threat when he gets the ball.
Otherwise, a big advantage for this team is chemistry, as they’ve got 15 players playing in Ukraine, including six at Shakhtar Donetsk and five at Dynamo Kyiv, which can always be a factor to watch in international play - those connections certainly help explain Ukraine’s defensive solidity. 
Can Côte d’Ivoire capitalize on 2024 triumph?
Could we be seeing a resurgence from Côte d’Ivoire? Certainly, it feels like that’s the case, as they continue to celebrate winning the 2024 African Cup of Nations on home soil, having last won in 2015.
After some poor AFCON performances between 2015 and 2024, as a strong generation of players started to age out, it feels like this team is back on track and ready to compete for more continental silverware going forward, as they try and defend their crown at the next AFCON in January of 2026.
🏆 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑴𝑷𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺 🏆
— CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) February 11, 2024
🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire are crowned African Champions for the third time in their history! 🥇#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/Y2xx7l1JAb
Before then, however, the goal is to reach the World Cup, as they look to reach that tournament for the first time since 2014, which came as part of a run of three straight World Cup qualifications in 2006, 2010 and 2014. The only three times they’ve reached that tournament, they’ll feel frustrated to have missed out on 2018 and 2022, as they fell in the second round of qualifiers for both tournaments.
This time, however, qualifiers are quite different - before, in CAF, teams had to navigate one of the toughest qualifying systems in the world, as teams were split into 10 groups of four in the second round, with the winners of each of those groups needing to then play a playoff to grab one of five spots up for grabs. That Côte d’Ivoire didn’t even reach the third round playoff in 2018 and 2022 gives an idea of how tough the region is.
Now, teams can qualify directly from the group phase, as CAF has eliminated the first round (which saw teams ranked #27 to #54 play a two-legged tie before the stage with 10 groups of four), with teams now being directly split into nine groups of six, with the winner of each group qualifying directly for the World Cup, and the best four runner-ups going into a playoff for a spot in the intercontinental playoffs.
So far, Côte d’Ivoire are on the right track in their group - they sit atop Group F with five wins and one draw - but are just one point ahead of second-place Gabon, who they’ll face in September.
Before then, however, they’ll enjoy this rare break from CAF opposition, as a pair of friendlies vs. France and England in March of 2022 are the lone times they’ve played teams outside of their region since 2020, where they had friendlies against Belgium and Japan.
Given how unique playing in CAF can be, with travel, weather and pitch conditions all factors teams must deal with, it can push teams from the region to develop unique styles of play to try and carve out results, so this will be a good test of the style they do play.
Speaking of that style, Côte d’Ivoire have kept things quite simple under head coach Emerse Faé, who took over for Côte d’Ivoire partway through their AFCON triumph and has stayed in charge since - they’ve loved to hold onto the ball, and will break teams down by brute force. That’s how they won AFCON, as they averaged 56% of possession at that tournament, generating 12.71 shots per game and 1.66 xG, and they’ve kept that up over the past 12 months, where they’re averaging 60.3% of possession, 13.11 shots per game and 1.79 xG.
To give an idea of how tough it can be to attack in CAF, despite those impressive numbers, they’re underperforming their xG, scoring 1.67 goals per game, having scored two or more goals in a game just twice in that span.
As one would expect, given those dominant possession numbers, Côte d’Ivoire have been quite strong defensively, as they’ve allowed just 5.44 shots for a total of 0.38 xG, putting up a PPDA of 10.99 and keeping opponents to an average shot distance of over 22 yards. They’re willing to press and force teams to play quickly and directly to break them down.
Yet, returning to the Shield, that’s why these games will be so important to them. As seen, they’ve been pretty dominant in their region, so it’ll be interesting to see how their system fares against teams from different continents. Can they continue to be strong on the ball, even against a Canadian team that likes to press, for example?
Tournoi international amical - Canadian shield (Toronto)🇨🇦
— FIF 🇨🇮🐘 (@FIFCI_tweet) June 5, 2025
Préparation
Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇮 Vs 🇳🇿 Nouvelle Zélande
7 Juin 2025 / 23H00 GMT
BMO Field,Toronto
Séance d’entraînement des Éléphants du mercredi 04 juin 2025. #FIF 🇨🇮#CanadianShield2025 pic.twitter.com/NR854eKrC2
For what it’s worth, they’ve certainly got the quality to play that way, and they’ve brought a lot of their key players to Toronto. Like Ukraine, they’ve got some key absences - in particular, they’ve been ravaged in defence, with Willy Boly (Nottingham Forest), Emmanuel Agbadou (Wolverhampton), Hassane Kamara (Udinese), Guéla Doué (Strasbourg), and Evan Ndicka are all not in this squad, while Amad Diallo (Manchester United) is the big absence up front.
At the same time, there is still a lot of quality in this squad, one that has done well to transition into a new generation after their AFCON triumph.
In goal, Angers’s Yahia Fofana gives them top-five league experience, while Monaco’s Wilfried Singo and Atlanta’s Odilon Kossounou will lead the way at the back. Then, in midfield, there is plenty of quality via Al-Ahli’s Franck Kessié and Nottingham Forest’s Ibrahim Sangaré, but the real quality is up front, even despite Amad Diallo’s absence - they’ve got Villarreal’s Nicolas Pépé, Utrecht’s (and Côte d’Ivoire’s 2023 AFCON hero) Sébastian Haller, Nice’s pair of Jérémie Boga and Evann Guessand, and Brighton’s Simon Adingra to draw from.
That attack will pose a real threat to Canada’s defence, as they look to power this Côte d’Ivoire team to success in this tournament and into the World Cup, sitting as a real strength of this team. 
What can Canada learn from these games?
Of course, for Canada, as seen here, there’s plenty for them to get out of this tournament, which is why it’s exciting to see them take on these two teams.
Stylistically, these should be two different games than what they’re used to, as most of their games over the past five years have been against Concacaf and Conmebol opposition, but they haven’t gotten as many reps against teams from UEFA and CAF, for example.
Because of that, look for them to make the most of the stylistic differences that these teams will offer. No doubt, both are quality sides loaded with top players - something Canada is going to have to get used to facing if they’re to make a run at the World Cup - but it’s important to be flexible when facing new teams. 
Against Ukraine, it’ll be a good chance for Canada to improve on breaking down low blocks, one of the things they need to do to score more goals, as it’ll be expected that Ukraine gives them more of the ball and tries to frustrate them off the ball.
Then, against Côte d’Ivoire, Canada will get a chance to further test their press against a strong possession-based side, while putting their defensive system to work, given the quality they’ll face in attack.
Both will prove to be valuable in World Cup preparation - Canada knows that they’ve got a lot of work to do on both sides of the ball ahead of next summer - as they look to develop their game plan beyond being a team that just presses.
No doubt, that high press remains a key pillar of this team, as it’s pushed them to a new level defensively and has helped them offensively, but they know that they’ll have to develop in other areas of their game to support that press.
One of those areas is their attack and possession play, while another is how they defend when teams are playing through their press, and they’ll now get a great chance to work on both of those things in these matches.
On top of the chance that they’ll get to audition players itching for bigger roles in the team, especially in terms of some youngsters on the cusp of a CanMNT breakout like Jamie Knight-Lebel, Niko Sigur, Nathan Saliba and Promise David, and that shows the value of this tournament.
Ahead of a Gold Cup where Canada have shown that they’re not messing around in the hunt for their first trophy since 2000, this will be a good chance for them to get the ball rolling in that quest, one that remains a key stop on their journey towards the 2026 World Cup.
