Five hundred days to the kickoff of the 2026 World Cup and Canada coach Jesse Marsch is on the move.
A cross-country string of coaching clinics has already taken Marsch to Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Saskatoon, with stops in Calgary and Vancouver next.
Monday's stop in Calgary just happens to come 500 days ahead of the opening of the 48-team, 104-game World Cup, which kicks off June 11, 2026 with games in Mexico City (the opening contest for co-host Mexico) and Guadalajara.
Tuesday marks 500 days to the tournament kickoff in Canada and the U.S., the other two co-hosts. Toronto's BMO Field will host Canada's opening game June 12 while SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif, stages the U.S. opener.
Marsch clearly missed the milestone memo.
"I didn't even know that was the case until I hit Toronto," he said, explaining he was hit with a string of questions about the 500-day countdown during interviews there.
Marsch is not big on such benchmarks. He knows what lies ahead — and when. And so does Canada Soccer, he says.
"I think in general, once the year turned over (to 2025), the sense of urgency inside (Canada Soccer) has gone up a level. Because we all realize time is going to move fast. So I think that from the first of the year, there's been a real urgency to really move forward with a lot of our agendas."
For Marsch, that includes assisting Canada Soccer with its fundraising efforts as well as other projects (such as helping improve the youth program).
Next up for his 31st-ranked Canadian men is the March 20th CONCACAF Nations League semifinal against No. 19 Mexico at California's SoFi Stadium, with the winner facing either the 16th-ranked Americans or No. 36 Panama in the final three days later.
For Marsch, it's a "really big" measuring stick given the opposition and the fact it comes with a trophy. And a challenge given it will be a best-on-best tournament, with teams calling in all available players.
"This is a big opportunity for us three (World Cup co-host teams), given we don't have (World Cup) qualifying, to stake a claim on where we are in the region," he said.
Teams may not have all their talent at the June 14-July 6 CONCACAF Gold Cup, with some players away at the 32-team FIFA Club World Cup which runs June 14 to July 13. Marsch also expects there may be a "couple of extraordinary situations" such as a player transferring to a new club that merit a Gold Cup pass.
"But in general, we're really looking to pull in our best group," he said.
He is also looking to bring in a few new young players and to continue conversations with dual-national players who are eligible for Canada.
Marsch says the rest of the Canadian men's dance card for the year is coming together, saying Canada Soccer is "close" to revealing some fixtures.
"I would think we're like 95 per cent sure of who the opponent will be," he said.
The schedule will include "quite a few" matches at home as well as a European component.
"And there's a lot of teams that are basically in the (No.) 10 to (No.) 35 FIFA ranking category," Marsch said of the opposition.
At No. 31, Canada is at an all-time high in the rankings. But Marsch has already asked his team to take it to another level, building on last summer's fourth-place finish at Copa America.
"Then I really challenged them in the fall, when they came back, to be really 100 per cent focused on what we were trying to achieve as a group and to continue to push our level of what we wanted to become," he said.
Marsch, who took over the team last May, believes in his men.
"It's been an absolute pleasure working with these guys," he said.
While Marsch travels the country, he is also keeping tabs on his charges, including Canada captain Alphonso Davies who suffered a muscle strain in his left hamstring playing for Bayern Munich in a 3-0 Champions League loss Jan. 22 at Dutch side Feyenoord.
Marsch says the prognosis is Davies will be out four to six weeks, adding "we're hopeful that it's closer to four (weeks)."
"And most everybody feels like he should be able to come back pretty strong from this," he added.
Marsch plans to meet Davies in Germany next month.
Marsch says he has also been in touch with Ismael Kone and his agent amid talk about the Canadian midfielder's uncertain future at Marseille, to see if he can help with his own network to see who might be interested in Kone.
While in Vancouver, Marsch will share his symposium with Casey Stoney, the newly named Canadian women's coach.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
