Tajon Buchanan's brace lifts Canada to 6-0 Gold Cup win over Honduras

Gemma Karstens-Smith · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jun 18, 2025 7:20 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Niko Sigur has made immoderate peculiar memories implicit his years of watching shot astatine Vancouver's B.C. Place.

He added different Tuesday arsenic helium scored his archetypal extremity for Canada and helped his state thump Honduras 6-0 to unfastened their Gold Cup campaign.

"Of course, it feels truly nice," Sigur said of the strike. "Something I'm moving for each these years. You don't ever spot close distant the enactment paying off, but this is 1 of those days that it is."

The 21-year-old rightback/midfielder from Burnaby, B.C., was portion of a well-rounded violative onslaught for the 30th-ranked Canadians connected Tuesday.

Sigur opened the scoring successful the 27th minute, and Tani Oluwaseyi followed with a tally successful first-half wounded time. Tajon Buchanan notched a brace with goals successful the 48th and 65th minutes, substitute Promise David scored successful the 75th, and Nathan Saliba sealed the triumph with a onslaught successful the 90th minute.

Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair stopped each 4 on-target shots helium faced from No. 75 Honduras.

The triumph was a "total team" effort, said Canada's adjunct coach, Mauro Biello.

"I can't look astatine 1 feline and find idiosyncratic who had an disconnected game. Everybody came retired with the close mentality," said Biello, who stood successful for caput manager Jesse Marsch connected the touchline arsenic helium sat retired the archetypal crippled of a two-game suspension.

"We played wrong our identity, and we were capable to not springiness them overmuch and people goals. And that's portion of who we privation to be. And I deliberation for this archetypal crippled of the tournament, ace blessed to get it started successful that way."

WATCH | Buchanan strikes doubly successful Gold Cup opener:

The Canadians settled into the crippled midway done the archetypal fractional and took complaint erstwhile Sigur scored successful the 27th minute.

Sigur passed disconnected to Jonathan David astatine the apical of the punishment country and, erstwhile David chipped it close back, helium sent a right-footed changeable sailing successful past Honduras 'keeper Edrick Menjivar.

His archetypal extremity for the elder nationalist squad came successful his sixth appearance, and with ample friends and household successful the announced assemblage of 24,286.

"I don't often get to play successful beforehand of my household and friends successful Croatia. I've possibly got two, 3 radical I person to springiness tickets to," said Sigur, who plays for signed with Hajduk Split successful Croatia's archetypal part backmost successful December 2023. "This nighttime was a small different. But it means the satellite to me.

"And with the World Cup coming, we person 2 radical signifier games present [in Vancouver]. But we person a small spot of enactment to bash successful between, truthful we'll get to that."

WATCH | Is Canada acceptable to triumph the Gold Cup?:

Oluwaseyi doubled the pb successful the 3rd infinitesimal of first-half wounded time, collecting a walk from Richie Lareya and rapidly blasting a changeable into the apical country of the nett from the broadside of the six-yard box.

He celebrated by moving to the touchline and grabbing the jersey of Canadian defender Sam Adekugbe, who's distant from the squad aft suffering a torn Achilles tendon past week.

The violative onslaught continued aboriginal successful the 2nd half.

Lareya crossed a shot into Oluwaseyi, and the Minnesota United guardant back-heeled it to Buchanan. Stationed astatine the broadside of the six-yard box, Buchanan popped a changeable up and successful nether the crossbar to springiness Canada a 3-0 pb successful the 48th minute.

The 26-year-old guardant — who presently plays for Spain's Villarreal CF — struck again successful the 65th disconnected a corner.

Mathieu Choiniere swung a shot in, and Oluwaseyi jumped up, trying to caput it connected net. The Honduran 'keeper made the stop, but couldn't screen the shot and Buchanan tucked it successful for his 2nd extremity of the night.

"I consciousness confident. Enjoying my football, that's the astir important thing," Buchanan said of his caller play. "Playing with a grin connected my face. And conscionable got to support pushing hard and support improving."

Promise David came connected successful the 71st infinitesimal for Oluwaseyi and rapidly made an impact, scoring successful the 75th.

With little than a infinitesimal to spell successful regulation, Saliba fired a left-footed changeable into the apical country of the Honduras nett to seal the people astatine 6-0.

The Canadians person been emphasizing offence during grooming implicit the past 2 weeks, said Jonathan David, the team's skipper for the tournament.

"I deliberation earlier the campy and passim the camp, we talked a batch astir being much ruthless. That was a large talking point," helium said. "So I deliberation we conscionable effort to enactment connected that successful grooming and ever effort to enactment the chances that we have. And I deliberation truthful far, it's been going connected beauteous good to this point."

Canada volition instrumentality to enactment connected June 21 erstwhile the squad faces No. 90 Curacao successful Houston. The squad volition wrapper up Group B play against No. 81 El Salvador connected June 24.

The victor and runner-up from each of the 4 groups beforehand to the knockout signifier successful the 16-team tournament. The finale volition beryllium held successful Houston connected July 6.

Canada won the Gold Cup successful 2000 and finished 3rd successful 2002. When the tourney was past held successful 2023, the state mislaid to the United States successful a punishment shootout successful the circular of 16.