Head coach Marsch brings confidence, character to Canadian soccer team

“This is their national team, this is their moment for their country and I’m just trying to do everything I can to give them the opportunity to show how great they are. And I know we will.”

The journey to the 2026 World Cup has been a winding one for Marsch, a former Major League Soccer midfielder.

After retiring from playing, the former Princeton Tiger was hired as an assistant coach for the U.S. national team and helped the Americans win their group in the 2010 World Cup.

He went on to become the inaugural coach for the Montreal Impact and later helmed the New York Red Bulls. In 2018, he moved to Europe as an assistant at Leipzig before taking the club’s head coaching role, and filling the same role at Salzburg and Leeds.

Then Canada came calling. Marsch took over the national team in May 2024, nine months after former head coach John Herdman decamped to lead Toronto FC.

Herdman had guided Canada back to the World Cup after a 36-year absence, but at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, the nation went winless across its three group stage games.

Marsch’s first test came at the 2024 Copa America. There, he steered the group through gritty battles against some of the top teams in the world, including two hard-fought 2-0 losses against Lionel Messi and Argentina, and came away with a fourth-place finish.

The result saw Canada climb to a world ranking of 26, marking a historic high.

With Marsch in charge, Canada has gone 13-5-13, scoring 40 goals and conceding 24 across 31 games. The country heads into the World Cup this week sitting at No. 30 in FIFA’s standings.

“A very demanding coach,” winger Tajon Buchanan said. “He wants the best out of each player. He pushes us, and since he’s taken over, he’s created a winning culture, and a culture that has made us believe that maybe we’re better than we think.”

Part of the success has come from the relationships Marsch built with the athletes who play for him.

While he and his wife live in Italy, the coach often travels around Europe visiting members of the Canadian national team as they play for their clubs.

Getting to know Marsch as a person helped Buchanan add a new level to his already impressive game.

“Amazing guy, amazing coach. He’s pushed me in all parts of my game to be better, play to my strengths, be confident. And I think he’s given me the freedom to go out and do that,” said the Villarreal midfielder.

“Once he got to understand me as a person and player, and once he understood what he could do to get the best out of me, I think that’s helped a lot, and I’ve been able to show that and help the team in that way.”

Marsch challenges his players both on an off the field, said veteran Canadian defender Richie Laryea, and is quick to share his ideas about playing high-paced, aggressive soccer.

“Jesse’s high energy, a very loving and caring guy. He kind of treats everyone within the group as if they’re his sons,” he said. “He’s been super transparent, which is a really positive thing within our industry. You want people to be straightforward with you, which he is.”

He’s a coach who’s brought new confidence to the group, and never shows any signs of panic, even in the face of injuries, Laryea added.

“I think Jesse’s just instilled this mentality in us — fear no one, play our game, when we play our game, there’s no one better than us,” he said.

“He’s fuelled a lot, I guess, of confidence in the group. He’s allowed us to believe that there’s no such thing as crazy ideas or crazy expectations within our group because of how much he believes in us.”

Marsch knows that with Canada hosting this summer’s World Cup, there’s opportunity to grow soccer across the nation to a whole new level — and he wants to be a part of that work.

Last month, he signed a four-year extension that will see him lead the national team through the 2030 World Cup.

“I know my job, I’m tasked mostly to get the first team right and then they can do well in this World Cup and the next one,” Marsch said at the time. “But I think we all know we have an opportunity here to build the sport in all the right ways. And I felt like I needed more time to commit to that.”

He also feels that his current group is something special.

“You’re talking about a group that has flawless character, flawless commitment to each other, flawless commitment to the national team, very little ego in terms of anyone thinking they’re above anyone else or above the program,” he said. “This is another reason why I decided to extend, is because it’s a pleasure to coach these men.”

Marsch will aim to steer Canada toward history on Friday when his team kicks off its World Cup campaign against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto.

The Canadians have never won a World Cup game.

Their coach believes that’s about to change — and that his role in that change will be diminished come game day.

“My job is to get them fit, get them prepared, have everyone understand what their roles are and let them go play,” Marsch said. “Let them go play.“  

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2026.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Head coach Marsch brings confidence, character to Canadian soccer team

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