ANALYSIS – The CANMNT got off to a rocky start, as they gave up two early goals to Iceland’s Orri Steinn Óskarsson. Despite having many chances, Canada struggled to score in open play, even though Ali Ahmed and Mathieu Choinière created some great scoring chances.
Jonathan David is a Key Factor For Come From Behind Win at BMO Field
Penalties Helped the CANMNT To Tie The Game
There were two instances that led to penalties for the CANMNT. These included:
- A fantastic pass from Nathan Saliba to Tajon Buchanan led to a penalty.
- Jonathan David passed the ball to Daniel Jebbison. Jebbison, with his great footwork, was able to get tackled within the box and earn the Canadians another penalty.
READ MORE: Nathan Saliba: A Promising CANMNT Midfielder
While one might say Iceland made mistakes in both plays, there were mistakes Canada forced because of the team’s speed and agility. They will need to use this to their advantage in their upcoming games and in the FIFA World Cup.
Canada Did Not Score in Open Play
This is probably one thing Canada did not do well against Iceland. They had a lot of scoring chances but were never able to convert them.
They had many opportunities but never took advantage of them. Some examples of this include:
- Ali Ahmed created some great scoring opportunities for his teammates that were not taken advantage of.
- Jonathan Osorio delivered a pass to Richie Laryea. Laryea took the pass and shot the ball well, but off target.
There were also other chances Canada had that were not open play or penalties. These included corners or free kicks. In fact, some of the free kicks delivered by Choinière gave Iceland fits. However, Canada never capitalized on them. Even with Canada’s massive injuries, this has been a recurring theme, with a need for someone besides David who can score goals for them.
Orri Steinn Óskarsson Took Advantage of Their Opportunities
One can talk about Canada’s mistakes. However, Iceland only had three scoring chances and took advantage of two of them. Orri Steinn Óskarsson was clinical on both goals, which were:
- Taking advantage of a Liam Miller defensive error and putting the ball past Dayne St. Clair to give his team the early lead.
- Thanks to a great pass by Mikael Egill Ellertsson and an error by Niko Sigur, Óskarsson took advantage and at that time doubled Iceland’s lead.
There have been a lot of injuries to Canada’s backline, so there should be some leniency towards this. Fortunately, Canada can learn from this, as making these mistakes in the FIFA World Cup will be much more costly.
Other Factors: Tajon Buchanan’s Red Card
When Tajon Buchanan got that red card in the 81st minute, the momentum of the game changed. Being man down, Canada was no longer generating scoring chances. In fact, Iceland had a chance late in the game to win, but St. Clair was sharp and made the save.
Marsch discussed the red card issued to Buchanan. Marsch said a yellow card should have been given in his post-game press conference, as seen below:
“But, you know, I think that even today, it can be handled by being a yellow. Like, it’s not a malicious elbow that gets thrown.”
This is a hard one to answer clearly. In this writer’s opinion, there is some warrant to a yellow vs. a red card. Since it was accidental, a yellow card might have been warranted, but there is a clear understanding of why a straight red was given to Buchanan.
Marsch also talked about Kamal Miller bouncing back from his earlier mistake, when he gave up the first Iceland goal, and said that he played a role in Canada coming back into the game:
“I know that Kamal felt that he let himself down, but I thought his response in the game and the way that he played in the rest of the match helped us get back in the game, so that part was good.”
READ MORE: 2026 CANMNT March Roster: A Notably Rotated Roster
Games Coming Up For Canada
The CANMNT will have another friendly on March 31 against Tunisia, while Iceland faces their third Concacaf nation in 2026, as they take on Haiti on March 31. Both games will take place at BMO Field.
The game against Iceland will be at 12:30 pm ET, and the game against Tunisia will be at 7:30 pm EST. It will be shown live on TSN and OneSoccer.
In addition, Canada will know whether they will face Italy or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup on March 31 at 2:45 pm ET.
The post-game press conference with Jesse Marsch is available here on the OneSoccer YouTube Account on March 28, 2026.
Photo Credit: CANMNT X Account on March 28, 2026.
