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Soccer·Analysis
The men’s World Cup draw was going well for Canada until Pot 4. Instead of one of the weakest teams, Canada drew the winner of UEFA Playoff A, which will see favourite Italy, the 12th-ranked team in the world, compete against Wales, Bosnia, and Northern Ireland in March.
'Playing Italy would be outstanding, especially the first game at home,' Canada coach Marsch says
Chris Jones · CBC Sports
· Posted: Dec 05, 2025 4:53 PM EST | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago
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The men’s World Cup draw in Washington D.C. was going well for Canada until Pot 4.
Instead of one of the weakest teams, Canada drew the winner of UEFA Playoff A, which will see favourite Italy, the 12th-ranked team in the world, compete against Wales, Bosnia, and Northern Ireland in March.
Canada had already drawn 17th-ranked Switzerland and 51st-ranked Qatar, relatively favourable picks in a field of more formidable possibilities.
But the spectre of facing Italy — in Canada’s opening game in Toronto on June 12 no less — left head coach Jesse Marsch grim faced in the semidarkness of the Kennedy Center, with his arms folded tight across his chest.
He had started to recover by the time he spoke after. He wasn’t upset about the challenge, he said. He likes to prepare, and now he won’t know his first opponent until March when the Italy and 21 other teams vie for the remaining six spots in the expanded 48-team tournament.
“I just didn’t want to wait to know,” he said. “Too bad, I’ve got to be a little bit patient. It’s a little awkward, but whatever. It’s the World Cup, man. Let’s get ready. Let’s get ready to go.”
It had been a nervy-enough morning already.
An enormous security perimeter was set up around the Kennedy Center. Dignitaries, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, arrived in their motorcades under heavy snow and the watch of heavier security, including an army of Secret Service agents.
In the hours before the draw, Washington D.C. was a city of sirens.
Come such a consequential afternoon — the precursor to the biggest sporting event on Earth — the tension only heightened. Co-hosts Kevin Hart and Heidi Klum, and FIFA president Gianni Infantino, tried valiantly to liven and lighten up the crowd.
“We want to have fun,” Infantino said, as though he needed to remind his audience to relax. “We want to enjoy.”
Finally, it was time for 48 balls, each containing a ribbon with a different team’s name, to start being drawn by a parade of iconic athletes, including Wayne Gretzky, Tom Brady and Shaquille O’Neal.
About 900 journalists from around the world watched, their country’s fates turning with every lot, each pick met with a chorus of cheers or groans.
Canada, pre-drawn into Group B, was only in Pot 1 by virtue of being a co-host along with the U.S. and Mexico. By FIFA’s measures, the 27th-ranked Canadians would have normally been in Pot 3.
It’s an uncomfortable truth, but every country, from Morocco to New Zealand, wanted to find itself in Group B, given Canada’s relative weakness as a top seed. The alternatives were the greatest soccer sides on Earth, including Argentina, France, Spain, and England.
Switzerland won the prize. There could have been worse draws for Canada — Croatia and Colombia among them — but a result against the Swiss in the last group-stage game will have to be well-earned.
“We’re happy,” Swiss head coach Murat Yakin said. “We’ll expect a tough game against Canada, and we’re looking forward to it.”
“The second pot, all those opponents would be a big challenge,” Marsch said. “With us being very intensive against the ball, it could be a good matchup for us.”
Qatar was close to an ideal pick for Canada from Pot 3. The 2022 hosts were the first team eliminated from their own World Cup, and only Saudi Arabia and South Africa were lower seeds.
“I didn’t want Norway,” Marsch said. “The fact we didn’t get Norway, that made me happy.”
Then came Pot 4.
The Qatar pick eliminated Jordan from the possibilities for Canada, who also couldn’t draw Haiti, Curacao, or either FIFA Playoff lot, because Jamaica and Suriname are in contention there.
That left three of the weakest teams — Cape Verde, Ghana, and New Zealand — or one of the UEFA Playoff lots available.
None other than Gretzky made the fateful pick. When he opened the ball and unfurled the ribbon that revealed Canada’s difficult fate, it felt like the worst possible outcome.
After night fell and the Kennedy Center emptied — after the politicians and celebrities had begun their journeys home, and soccer fans around the world were left to ponder their possibilities — Marsch had nearly completed his more optimistic calculus.
Italy has been enigmatic, and its emergence from its playoff isn’t a certainty.
But if the Italians do survive, and if Canada’s men in red find themselves standing across from men in blue, June 12 in Toronto will be a day to remember.
“I think playing Italy would be outstanding, especially the first game at home,” Marsch said, sounding, a little surprisingly, as though he believed it. “I know there would be a lot of Italian-Canadians at the match, and they better root for Canada, that’s all I’m going to say.”
And with that, Jesse Marsch rediscovered his wide smile. He had heard the entreaties, including his own. He had converted himself to his own cause.
It’s the World Cup, man. It’s time to have fun. It’s time to enjoy.
English (US) ·