ANALYSIS – The 2024 CANMNT October roster for the game against Panama was revealed on Tuesday, October. 2, 2024. This includes three notable players from the youth system of Canada, who will be present when the Canadians face off against Panama on October 15 at BMO Field.
2024 CANMNT October Roster Revealed Against Panama
Expected Players on the National Team
Very similar to other roster announcements, there are a lot of familiar faces in this roster. This includes Alphonso Davies, Cyle Larin, Jonathan Osorio, and Jacob Shaffelburg. A focus though on this national team would be the many players that are now playing or just made the move to Ligue 1. Derek Cornelius is a centre-back that made a move to Olympique de Marseille earlier this year. This is the same case for other players like Theo Bair, Ismaël Koné (injured, will talk about him later), and Moïse Bombito, who all made recent moves to Ligue 1. There is then of course, Lille OSC striker, Jonathan David, who has been with the club since 2020 and most recently scored the game-winning goal against Real Madrid for Lille.
This is what CANMNT head coach, Jesse Marsch said about this trend with the national team when asked by Raheem Bashir on the number of players playing in Ligue 1:
“Yeah, I think there’s some obvious reasons why some of our players would go to the French league because that this is one of their, you know, either their primary language, their mother tongue, or their secondary language. And so, then the idea that they can adapt quickly to the language and culture makes sense. Some of them are a little bit of a special situation, but certainly, it’s not just that they’ve gone to the French league or gone or made good transfers, but that they’re getting playing time, right,” Marsch said. “It’s good for us. They’re close to me, so I can see them play and I think they’ve, they’ve established themselves with all their teams, which is a really positive sign.”
Players that Missed Out/Did Not Make the Cut
As with some of the previous windows, older players like Steven Vitória, Milan Borjan, and Junior Hoilett, who played a big role in helping Canada qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2022, were not part of the team. The one player people might be surprised about is Samuel Piette, who is a 29-year-old centre-back and is the current captain of CF Montréal. Piette played a big role in Canada qualifying for the FIFA World Cup. This is what Piette said after missing out in the two friendlies against the U.S. and Mexico (Source: Tom Nightingale of Canadian Soccer Daily):
“I was talking about it with Alistair Johnston: it’s the first time in 12 years that I haven’t been called up. It’s weird, for sure,” Piette told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s a bit of a disappointment, for sure, but I’m not the one who makes the choices. I control what I can control. And I can only control my performance in training and in matches.”
Also, centre-back Kamal Miller, a centre-back for the Portland Timbers, also did not make the squad. Miller did not play much in Copa América, but was present for two of those games, including playing 45 minutes against Peru. Another player who will not be with Canada is Ismaël Koné, with Jesse Marsch stating this about him when he answered a question from Bashir:
“And it’s a little bit of a shame with Koné, because it is a little random that after the one ankle injury, he now gets the exact same ankle injury on the other side. But we all know that Koné is going to be a big part of this team as we move forward. It’s just a little bit unfortunate that we don’t get to keep him moving forward with us, and yeah, also with this club at the moment.”
Another player Canada will miss is Alistair Johnston, who will also miss out because of an injury. The Celtic left-back might have been Canada’s best player in the 2024 Copa América competition, as he stepped up for his team to make the right plays in the competition.
Surprise Players That Made the Cut
In an effort to expand the national team pool, three former youth players and a former CanPL player will get their first taste of training with the senior national team. These players include Jamie Knight-Lebel, Kwasi Poku and Santiago López. One player that seemed to be on Marsch’s radar is Poku, which Marsch had this to say about him (Source: OneSoccer):
Poku, the former Forge FC player who can play as both a left-back and as a striker, is the third former CPL player to make the October roster, with former Valour FC goalkeeper, Jonathan Sirois, and former Cavalry FC defender, Joel Waterman.
READ MORE: The CANMNT September Roster Revealed – Analysis
What Is at Stake for the CANMNT
READ MORE: Canada and Mexico Finishes the September Window Unbeaten
Jesse Marsch made it clear when answering the last Zoom question on what is at stake on October 15 at BMO Field against Panama:
Looking at the Concacaf rankings, Canada is indeed ranked second in the region. All three of Canada, the U.S., and Panama are very close to each other in total points earned in Concacaf competitions. In addition to that, Panama is also playing the U.S. in October, which might make the Canada-Panama game so much more important regarding the November window draw.
Also, this will also be the first game at home for Marsch as the head coach of the national team, and in the FIFA rankings, Canada could potentially pass Panama in the FIFA rankings with a win at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Right now, in the FIFA rankings, Panama is ranked 37th, while Canada is ranked 38th in the world.
Men’s National Team Training Session
24 March 2023 – Willemstad, CUW
Photo Credit: Canada Soccer Flickr Account of a Jonathan Osorio Headshot.
