Canadian men win friendly 2-1, beat U.S. on American soil for first time since 1957

KANSAS CITY — The Canadian men ended 67 years of failure against the U.S. on American soil with an impressive 2-1 win in a soccer friendly Saturday.

Jacob Shaffelburg and Jonathan David scored for the 40th-ranked Canadians, who led 1-0 after a dominant first half. Substitute Luca de la Torre replied for the 16th-ranked Americans, who offered more resistance after the break.

Canada's last victory over the Americans on U.S. soil was in July 1957, a 3-2 World Cup qualifying victory in St. Louis. The Canadian men had gone winless in 23 consecutive games against the U.S. in America since then, but outclassed their opposition Saturday.

"We were on the front foot the whole match," said Canada coach Jesse Marsch. "We were strong. We were committed and (they) made me proud. Made me proud to be their coach, that's for sure."

The Canadians head to Texas next to face No. 17 Mexico on Tuesday in Arlington.

Saturday's game was a portrait of two programs in vastly different places.

In their first outing since a fourth-place finish at Copa America, the Canadians continued to impress with their aggressive, swarming style under Marsch.

The Americans, coming off defeats at the hands of Panama and Uruguay at Copa America, have slumped to a third straight defeat for the first time since 2015 successive losses to Brazil, Mexico and Costa Rica.

It was the first outing for the U.S. under assistant coach Mikey Varas, who was put in interim charge after Gregg Berhalter was fired July 10 in the wake of Americans' early exit from Copa America. Former Tottenham and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly the favourite to become the permanent replacement.

Varas took blame for the loss — and both Canada goals, which came off defensive miscues by his young squad.

"I wanted to present some ideas to them. And you just never know how it's going to translate from training to the game after three training sessions" said Varas. "And I asked a lot of them."

Marsch, a former U.S. international who was in the running for the U.S. job on an earlier occasion, has been quizzed at length about the American program in recent weeks. He made it clear after Saturday's game that he landed in the right place.

"I'd much rather coach Canada than the U.S. right now. … Wouldn't change coaching this team right now for anything in the world," Marsch said.

Canada went ahead in the 17th minute and could have scored more had it not been for U.S. goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.

Canada outshot the U.S. 11-1 (5-0 in shots on target) in the opening 45 minutes, with former CF Montreal midfielder Mathieu Choiniere, now with Switzerland's Grasshoppers, and Vancouver Whitecaps winger Ali Ahmed both excelling.

"Both of those guys were outstanding," said Marsch.

Canada started brightly and took the lead when Johnny Cardoso's pass went astray, in the face of the Canadian high press, deep in the U.S. end. The ball went from Stephen Eustaquio to David to Shaffelburg, who beat Schulte with a left-footed shot for his fourth Canada goal.

David doubled the lead in the 58th minute, sweeping the ball home past Schulte after Tim Reams failed to clear. It was David's 29th goal for Canada, tying him with Cyle Larin for the men's all-time lead.

The U.S. pulled one back in the 66th minute with a scrappy goal from de la Torre — his first for the national team — after some spotty Canadian defending in its own box. Canada thought the goal should have been ruled offside.

Sporting Kansas City forward Stephen Afrifa and CF Montreal midfielder Nathan Saliba entered the game in the 94th minute for their first Canada caps.

The Americans went into Saturday's contest with a 17-10-13 record against Canada. They were unbeaten (8-0-2) at Children’s Mercy Park, where they had outscored their opposition 20-2 before Saturday.

Canada and the U.S. last met in July 2023 when the U.S. defeated Canada in a penalty shootout in Cincinnati after the Gold Cup quarterfinal finished knotted at 2-2. The previous month, the U.S. blanked Canada and then-coach John Herdman 2-0 in the CONCACAF Nations League final in Las Vegas.

A tight hamstring forced Canadian fullback Alistair Johnston off in the 23rd minute, replaced by Richie Laryea.

Canada captain Alphonso Davies need treatment after tumbling over the advertising boarding behind the U.S. goal, but stayed in the game. Canadian defender Derek Cornelius meanwhile, kept going with a bandaged head after taking a blow.

The U.S. fielded a young starting 11, with eight players aged 23 or younger. While Canada's starters included just two players 23 or younger (Davies and Ahmed, both 23), there were seven starters 25 or younger.

Canada's starting 11 went into the match with a combined 361 caps compared to 291 for the U.S. starters.

The U.S. was missing Geo Reyna, Tyler Adams, Sergino Dest, Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson and Tim Weah. Canada was without the injured Sam Adekugbe and Theo Bair.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press