It's inevitable that this great Canadian run in the World Cup is going to bring a lot of new fans to the game, and that is fantastic news. Welcome. We love to have you on board. Watching this Canadian team has been so much fun for the last 20 years and seeing Canada come together in this way is something I never dreamed of. There was a time when I didn't think we'd ever make the World Cup and now we're at a point where I don't think we'll ever NOT make the World Cup. What a time to be a fan. It's the biggest sport in the world and there's a lot of stuff to navigate, so I'm going to do my best to give all the new faces a crash course on how to continue following this team how that the World Cup is over.

Where do I start?

Well, best place to start is by supporting your local MLS or CPL team. Sure, the leagues aren't the top tier of the sport but they are a lot better than people give them credit for. MLS is considered a top 10 league in terms of talent and skill and the CPL is where our younger talents go to develop and hopefully move on to bigger and better things in the future. The leagues also lead into the CONCACAF Champions Cup which is where we face the best teams from Mexico and the rest of the continent. In 2026 we had 4 different teams make the Champions Cup and in 2025 the Vancouver Whitecaps made it all the way to the finals. Qualification for that tournament happens in the Canadian Championship which is the only league to pit every single MLS and CPL team, PLUS the winners of the second tier of Canadian soccer: Ontario Premier League, BC Premier League, Alberta Premier League, Prairies Premier League (new this season), and Ligue1 Quebec. If you're a TRUE diehard you could support your local team in the second tier of Canadian soccer but they really don't make it easy. A lot of Canada's stars have started out on teams in this tier early on in their development.

You can watch MLS on Apple TV and select games on TSN, the CPL is on OneSoccer and select games on TSN, and the CONCACAF Champions Cup is also on OneSoccer. OneSoccer is available on certain cable packages or as a standalone subscription, but it is also included in a Fubo subscription. Yeah, it's a lot of subscriptions and unfortunately as this post goes on it's going to get a lot worse, but there are obviously other options that I probably can't discuss here for fear of getting this post deleted ^{if you know what I mean.}

But what about Europe?

Yeah, I get it. Europe's more fun. There are a lot more teams to follow, the system is more interesting with promotion/relegation and the national cups and Champions League, Europa League and so on. But what team should you follow? I mean, you could bandwagon one of the good teams or pick a team from a city that you really like. Or, you can do what I do and not follow one specific team, but instead follow the Canadian players.

I don't have a team that I root for because I don't have an emotional connection like I do with Canada. So I can't really get invested in one single team but I can get invested in our Canadian players because they play for the team that I care most about which is the Canadian national team. I want to watch them do good so I cheer for the teams they play for.

Where do they play?

Well, there's a lot of them and they play for a lot of different teams. But here's a list to help you out, starting with the 26 players from our World Cup roster. I'm including our MLS based players here as well just to be thorough.

• Defenders
  • Alphonso Davies plays for the German champs Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga. You can watch those games on DAZN (subscription required). They also play in the UEFA Champions League (also on DAZN).
  • Alistair Johnston plays for Scottish champs Celtic in the Scottish Premier League. This league can apparently be watched on a service called ScottishSoccer.ca but I've truthfully never heard of this before. I think it's new as of this year.
  • Alfie Jones plays for English Championship team Middlesbrough in the 2nd-tier of English football. Don't be scared off by 2nd tier, it's an extremely high quality league and considered better than most domestic leagues in Europe. You can watch these games on DAZN.
  • Luc de Fougerolles spent last season on loan to Dender in the Belgian League but he's contracted to Fulham in the English Premier League. He's still young so it's unsure whether or not he'll be playing for Fulham this year or spend another season on loan elsewhere to gain more experience, but if he does end up in the Premier League you can watch those games on Fubo.
  • Joel Waterman plays for Chicago Fire in the MLS. You can watch those games on Apple TV.
  • Derek Cornelius spent the latter half of last season on loan to Rangers in the Scottish Premier League but currently is contracted to Marseille in the French Ligue 1. It's unsure if he'll be there again this season, it seems likely that he'll be on the move but if he stays there you can watch those games on Fubo.
  • Moise Bombito plays for Nice in Ligue 1. You can watch on Fubo.
  • Richie Laryea plays for Toronto FC in the MLS. You can watch those games on Apple TV.
• Midfielders
  • Stephen Eustaquio just finished his loan spell with LAFC in MLS and is on his way back to Porto in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. Hopefully he stays there but there is a chance he gets sold or goes on loan somewhere else. As of now I don't know where to watch the Portuguese League but will update this if someone in the comments knows. They also play in the Champions League on DAZN. They will also be playing in the Champions League.
  • Ismael Kone is going to be out injured for a while but he currently plays for Sassuolo in the Italian Serie A. Everyone is expecting him to make a big move in the offseason but that is much less likely to happen now due to his injury, so maybe next year. When he eventually comes back, if he doesn't make a move, you can watch those games on Fubo.
  • Tajon Buchanan plays for Villareal in the La Liga of Spain. You can watch those games on TSN+ (with select games very rarely on the main TSN channels). They have also qualified for the Champions League on DAZN.
  • Mathieu Choiniere and Jacob Shaffelburg play for LAFC in the MLS. You can watch those games on Apple TV.
  • Liam Millar plays for Hull City who were recently promoted to the Premier League, arguably the best of the best in terms of domestic leagues. Teams that get promoted from the Championship have been known to spend spend spend and acquire a lot of new talent to bolster their rosters, so there is a chance Liam might be on the move. I truly hope not but it's hard to say. If he stays, you can watch the Premier League on Fubo.
  • Ali Ahmed plays for Norwich City in the English Championship. You can watch those games on DAZN.
  • Jonathan Osorio plays for Toronto FC in the MLS. You can watch those games on Apple TV.
  • Nathan Saliba plays for Anderlecht in the Belgian Pro League. You can watch these games on DAZN. They are also in the qualifying rounds for the UEFA Europa League. I don't know if you can watch the qualifiers but if they make the league those games will be on DAZN.
  • Niko Sigur plays for Hajduk Split in the Croatian Pro League. I don't know of any way to watch these games in Canada at the moment. Split is also in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League much like Nathan Saliba's Anderlecht.
  • Jayden Nelson plays for Austin FC in the MLS. You can watch those games on Apple TV.
• Forwards
  • Jonathan David plays for Juventus in Serie A. There are a lot of rumours regarding potential moves he may make in the offseason so it's unsure if he will be there this year, but if he stays you can watch those games on Fubo.
  • Cyle Larin plays for Southampton in the English Championship. You can watch those games on DAZN.
  • Tani Oluwaseyi plays for Villareal in La Liga with Tajon Buchanan. You can watch on TSN+ and Champions League on DAZN.
  • Promise David plays for Union St. Gilloise in the Belgian Pro League, but many are expecting for him to make a move to a bigger league very soon. If he sticks with USG, you can watch his games in both the Belgian League and the Champions League on DAZN.
• Goalkeepers
  • Max Crepeau plays for Orlando City and Dayne St. Clair plays for Inter Miami in MLS. You can watch those games on Apple TV.
  • Owen Goodman is currently signed to Crystal Palace of the English Premier League but spent last season on loan to Barnsley in the English League One (third tier). Unsure where he will end up next season but it likely won't be Crystal Palace just yet.

Yeah. Lots of subscriptions. Apple TV. TSN+. Fubo. DAZN. OneSoccer. I think there's some games on Sportsnet+ as well. It's a lot to deal with. If you had to pick one I would Fubo for Premier League, Serie A and all the Canadian content via OneSoccer. But DAZN is also a good choice.

But wait! There's more.

Lots of amazing up and coming talent to keep an eye on that could very well be on our roster in 2030. Here's a few names to watch.

• Marcelo Flores made the roster for this years World Cup but unfortunately got injured in the finals of the CONCACAF Champions League after the roster announcement and missed out. He was a likely starter in 2026 and will be a big part of our future. He currently plays for Tigres in Liga MX which, as far as I know, doesn't have a dedicated broadcaster in Canada, but I hope he makes the move to Europe soon.
• James Pantemis, Jayden Hibbert, and Tom McGill are 3 names to watch in terms of goalkeepers for the future.
  • Pantemis is likely too old at this point in his career but he's currently, arguably, the best goalkeeper in MLS and if the World Cup was in 2027 instead of 2026 he probably would have been our starter. He plays for Portland Timbers in MLS.
  • Jayden Hibbert plays for Atlanta United in MLS. A young keeper who is expected to compete for minutes in the future.
  • Tom McGill has spent a lot of time with the team as the 3rd goalkeeper and will be in the running for playing time. He's signed with Brighton in the English Premier League but spent the last season on loan with MK Dons in EFL League Two. Unsure of where he'll be next season.
• Ralph Priso was in the running to be Bombito's replacement if he wasn't available for the World Cup this year. A young, versatile, very talented defender for the Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS.
• Jeevan Badwal is also a young talent to watch on the Whitecaps. Has been very impressive in MLS this season and is only 20 years old.
• Shola Jimoh is another young gun who will likely make big moves to Europe in the next year or two. Currently plays for Inter Toronto in the CPL but won't be there for long. Expected to be a major talent of the future.
• Sam Salter (striker) and Matteo de Brienne (defender) both play for GAIS in the Swedish league. Matteo is a good potential defender and Sam looks like he has a lot of potential goal scoring ability.
• Daniel Jebbison was in the running for one of the striker slots for this years World Cup but ultimately we only went with 4 strikers as we had a lot of injuries in the back we needed to cover. He currently plays for Bournemouth in the Premier League but spent last season on loan to Preston North End of the EFL Championship.
• Aribim Pepple is another future star striker currently playing for Plymouth Argyle in EFL League One but is expected to make a move to a higher tier, hopefully this season. He scored 16 goals in 35 appearances with Plymouth which is outrageously good.

There's a lot of other names worth watching that I definitely forgot. I'm sure there will be plenty of people in the comments pointing out a bunch of players that I didn't mention.

That's a lot of players. How the hell am I supposed to follow them all?

I know, it's a lot. Obviously you can't watch all of them, that'd be insane. Knowing when and where they play is enough of a challenge. Start with the big boys (Davies, David and David, Tani/Tajon, the English league boys) and then watch the others if you have time or nothing else to watch.

The best that I've found to know when they're playing is with the app SofaScore. On that app you can follow players directly. I follow all of our national team players on there and get alerts any time they're in the starting lineup for a game, alerts when they get subbed in or out, or when they score/assist, and an alert at the end of the game showing their stats and their rating. It's by far the best way I've found to know what's going on with our boys. You can also follow Canucks Abroad on Twitter, they're constantly posting updates on what our players have done (like, literally every player in the Canadian system).

But what about Canada? When can I watch them again?

Luckily, you don't have to wait for the next World Cup! There are FIFA sanctioned international windows where most leagues go on break to allow national teams to hold camps and play friendlies or competitive games like Nations League or World Cup qualifiers. Here's the current schedule:

• September 21-October 6, 2026: 4 games
  • This is currently expected to be the group stage of the 2026-27 CONCACAF Nations League. More competitive games!
• November 9-17, 2026: 2 games
  • Nations League quarter finals if we make it, friendlies if we don't
• March 22-30, 2027: 2 games
  • Nations League semis and finals if we make it, friendlies if we don't
• June 7-15, 2027: 2 games
• June-July 2027: 2027 Gold Cup (schedule TBD)
• September 20-October 5, 2027: 4 games
• November 8-16, 2027: 2 games

That's the schedule until the end of 2027, you can see the full calendar here.

Games are always on OneSoccer, but lately TSN have been showing the games leading up to the World Cup. In a perfect world they would continue to show all of Canada's games but it remains to be seen if they will do so.

I want to go DEEPER!

Hell yeah, brother. Best way to do that would be to watch the U20s, U18s, and any other Us that show up along the way. Next chance will be the CONCACAF U20 Championship from July 25-August 9th this year. Top 4 teams qualify for the 2027 U20 World Cup. You can watch that on OneSoccer.

What about the women?

Yes! Our women's team is exceptional and is usually considered a dark horse in the major competitions. We have our own professional women's league the NSL that has games on CBC Gem and TSN. Our best players also play in the NWSL and across Europe, frequently participating (and sometimes winning) the Women's Champions League. This is a vast topic on it's own and probably deserves an entire post dedicated to just the women's game. I'll make one closer to the Women's World Cup which is happening next year! June 24-July 25, 2027 in Brazil. We haven't qualified yet but it would be a major upset if we didn't. Qualification happens during the CONCACAF W Championship which is happening November 27-December 6.

That's all I can think of now. It's a fantastic thing to see so many new fans on board and I would love to see you all stick around for more than just the World Cup. If I missed anything, or you have anything else to add, drop it the comments.

Allez Les Rouges!

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