Short-handed Canada digs deep to battle Ecuador to scoreless draw

Chris Jones · CBC Sports

· Posted: Nov 13, 2025 7:58 PM EST | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Jesse Marsch, the head coach of Canada’s men’s soccer team, leaned into the fourth official’s ear to plead his hopeless case.

“Unbelievable,” Marsch shouted at him. “That’s unbelievable.”

In only the sixth minute of Thursday’s supposed friendly against Ecuador at a sold-out BMO Field in Toronto, Ali Ahmed was given a straight red card for a high challenge. The contact, on Alan Franco’s arm, was not as significant as it first appeared, but Fernando Hernandez, the Mexican referee, was unsparing in his judgments.

Ecuador, ranked 23rd in the world and on the rise, went on to dominate possession if not the sum of a contentious night. The visitors didn’t manage a single shot on target against the short-handed Canadians, who dug deep to earn an impressive scoreless draw.

“You know the guy beside you is going to go to war for you,” Canadian goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair said after. 

But that was only partial comfort for Marsch, who saw one of the last matches before next summer’s all-important World Cup, in front of the biggest home crowd of his tenure, unfold with one man missing.

WATCH | 10-man Canada plays Ecuador to scoreless draw in friendly:

“I do not think it’s a red card,” Marsch said. “You can put that on the record.”

There was still something to be said for the sturdy display that followed.

“I know we have character in this team,” Marsch said. “But when you add maturity, and intelligence, and savviness, then you can really access what that character is. That part made me really happy to be their coach tonight.”

The last several weeks have been challenging for Canada’s previously meteoric men, who began a string of international windows in September with what Marsch described as the “best 10 days” of his time in charge. His side won back-to-back games in Europe, against Romania and Wales, for the first time in the program’s often beleaguered history. 

October was less successful, after a late, scrappy loss to Australia in Montreal, and a scoreless draw against Colombia in New Jersey.

Now Marsch has endured watching a distraught Ahmed, one of his favourite players, beating the ground with his fists, and then his depleted team going scoreless again.

That’s partly a function of serious opposition and a litany of injuries. Alphonso Davies, Alistair Johnston, Moise Bombito, Samuel Adekugbe, and Luc de Fougerolles have all been sidelined.

But most of that damage has been sustained by the back, and the next players up, especially Richie Laryea and Niko Sigur at fullback, have been revelations — so good, in fact, that Marsch might face a dilemma or two when his former starters return.

The present concern is the attack. Marsch appears to have settled on Tani Oluwaseyi as Jonathan David’s partner up front — over Cyle Larin, Promise David, and a belated candidacy from Theo Bair — but regardless of the combination, Canada has failed to score for the third consecutive game.

Even down a man, Oluwaseyi missed the game’s best chance not long after Ahmed’s dismissal, when Laryea set him free and Oluwaseyi could find only the goalkeeper with his attempt.

Canada's Jonathan David battles Ecuador's Pedro Vite during their scoreless draw Thursday at Toronto's BMO Field. (Getty Images)

More of the responsibility rests with David, who pressed well despite struggling through the coldest stretch of his sometimes magnificent career.

He has gone goalless in 16 straight games for club and country. He last scored for Canada against Romania and has scored only once for Juventus, his new club side, in his debut with the Italian giants in August. The confidence he’d built over five seasons of mostly uninterrupted success at Lille now looks badly shaken. 

“That’s two games we’ve had at home with huge crowds where we haven’t scored,” Marsch said. “That’s the biggest frustration.”

David, who hasn’t played much lately at Juventus, had meaningful minutes against Ecuador, at least.

Alfie Jones, the English-born centre back who needed only to take his Oath of Citizenship to be eligible to play for Canada, did not get sworn in before kickoff, and couldn’t even sit on the bench.

He might manage to become fully Canadian Friday, before the team leaves for Florida for next week’s friendly against Venezuela, which suddenly feels something like a must-win. The men won’t be together again until March, and it will be a long winter without a result to get them through.

It’s time for a better kind of unbelievable.