Canada plods to El Salvador win, tops Gold Cup group and eyes USMNT semifinal

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Through one of the longer and more plodding games in recent memory for Canada, Jesse Marsch’s side didn’t buy into El Salvador’s antics and pressed through to the Gold Cup quarterfinal stage.

Goals from Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan came after a barrage of fouls from El Salvador and lengthy stoppage time to give Canada a 2-0 win. Large stretches of Canada’s performance won’t be hung in The Louvre, but its result means it finished top of Group B and will play Guatemala in its first knockout round game. The winner of that takes on the victor from the United States/Costa Rica quarterfinal clash in the last four.

Here are The Athletic’s takeaways from Canada’s performance in Houston:

Ugly first half 

Foul after largely unnecessary foul from El Salvador marred the first half and slowed the pace of play to a grinding halt. As it has done before with Canada, El Salvador clearly came into the game with the intention of stopping Canada’s speed with its overt physicality. El Salvador offered virtually nothing positive with the ball. Referee Joe Dickerson lost control of the game early, handing out a yellow card to Canada center-back Luc De Fougerolles after he clearly connected with the ball on a tackle. Dickerson would hand out four yellow cards in total, two red cards to El Salvador and 22 total fouls in the first half.

It made the entire experience difficult on the eyes. But Canada’s response was noteworthy: Canada’s players need to improve their game management and not let emotions get the best of them as they have in the past. Against El Salvador, they did not take the bait. To its credit, Canada did keep driving.

It still looked, at times, like a Corvette trying to drive through multiple brick walls, however.

Canada owned a ridiculous 71 percent of first half possession and tried to build through the back. Yet in the final two thirds of the pitch, Canada never showed much of the quality it has in recent performances. Promise David had clear opportunities. Jonathan David had a penalty saved by El Salvador’s Mario Gonzalez. Canada’s lack of sharpness in the final third symbolized just how little quality it had in its first half attack against a stingy El Salvador side.

In the knockout round, Canada must show far more of the cohesion and quality on the ball. It won’t have to play opponents like El Salvador much in the buildup to the 2026 World Cup, granted. But for now, Canada is at risk of letting testy opponents in the Gold Cup suck the life out of its strengths.

David and Buchanan turn the game

Well, the first half concerns for Canada didn’t last long.

After El Salvador was reduced to nine men for the second half, Canada pierced through the weakened side with ease. Mathieu Choiniere’s pressing ability and immaculate final ball sprung Jonathan David free for a well-timed and well-placed finish. It was David’s 35th goal for Canada, the most in the program’s history. The assist was Choiniere’s first of his Canada career, but likely not his last. Three minutes later, Niko Sigur’s deft turn with the ball and clever ball to Tajon Buchanan allowed the electric winger to bang home his own goal with authority.

The goals were enough for Canada to coast to a win.

Yes, Canada was playing against a side in the second half that had virtually no chance of pressing forward, let alone trying to take a lead. But the fact that Canada came out for a second half and committed to playing with the quality it needed to was important. You could easily see a Canada side that was locked in mentally. And when the game opened up, as it likely will against better teams in the World Cup, it must have been reassuring to Marsch that his most talented players could quickly change a game. David and Buchanan are still two of the more skilled players in the region. If they can keep their confidence high late in the Gold Cup, Canada’s chances of going deep in the tournament should improve.

Marsch’s rotation should slow

Jesse Marsch had a clear plan for the Gold Cup group stage: see what he has in his arsenal.

Canada’s head coach wanted to test not only different players he hadn’t seen much in competitive matches, but different combinations of players to hopefully reveal answers about what his 2026 World Cup squad could look like.

Zoom out and Canada’s three Gold Cup group stage games featured three different combinations of starting central midfield pairs, three different starting centre-back duos and two different forward combinations.

The good? Marsch should feel more confident about assessing his squad and how they’ll react in competitive matches. His younger players, such as Sigur, De Fougerolles and Nathan Saliba benefitted from Marsch’s plan.

The flipside? There were more moments than not in Canada’s play against El Salvador that it looked disjointed in attack and lacked cohesiveness. With pairs and groups that don’t often play together internationally, Canada sometimes missed pressing triggers and fluidity in build-up. Playing together more is a step toward developing chemistry for Canada.

Does that mean Marsch will have to choose a best XI for the knockout round and stick with it? Not necessarily. He’ll play certain players to match certain opponents. But to solidify the spine of the pitch and limit mistakes that could lead to chances against? Marsch may have to limit how much experimenting he does, starting in the quarterfinal against Guatemala.

(Top photo: Omar Vega / Getty Images)