There’s some blockbuster talent up the front of John Herdman’s 26-man squad, among them Canada’s all-time goalscorer Cyle Larin and young stars about to make their huge splash in a World Cup.
Wait a minute… do you know who’s supporting them at the back and midfield? You don’t?
Make sure you check out Who is defending Canada and who are on the wings and midfield. If you’ve read these, proceed on and see who’ll be scoring for Canada.
Tajon Buchanan
Appearances: U23 4 / Senior 24
Goals: 4
Club: On loan to New England Revolution
Buchanan got his start representing Canada at the U23 level, playing in the Canada’s opening game of the 2020 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, against El Salvador. He scored a brace helping Canada win 2 – 0.
He was called up to the Senior team in 2021 for the World Cup qualification games against Aruba and Suriname. He would make his debut in the Aruba game, helping to set up 2 goals as part of the impressive 7 – 0 win.
He would score his first goal during the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup game against Mexico, scoring the equaliser despite the team crashing out to a 2 – 1 defeat.
At the end of the tournament, he received the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup Best Young Player Award.
Lucas Cavallini
Appearances: U20 3 (1 goal) U23 3 (1 goal) / Senior 34 (18)
Goals: 18
Club: On loan to Vancouver Whitecaps
Among Canada’s top goalscorers, Cavallini has been representing Canada from as early as the age of 18, with 3 call ups to the U23 team.
He earned his first call up to the Senior national team in 2012 and would go on to debut as a 2nd half substitute in their game against Trinidad, where Canada won 2 – 0.
His World Cup qualifying debut would come during the Honduras game where they lost 8 – 1.
He would go on to score his first goals during the 2018 CONCACAF Nations League qualifier game against the US Virgin Islands. The following year, he would score a hat-trick against Cuba during the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup Group Stage. A second hat-trick was acquired during Canada’s annihilation of the Cayman Islands. They beat Cayman Islands 11 – 0 in their World Cup Qualifier.
Jonathan David
Appearances: U17 3 (2 goals) U21 2 / Senior 35 (22 goals)
Goals: 22
Club: Lille
David got his first call up to the Senior team back in 2018 and subsequently scoring in their US Virgin Islands CONCACAF Nations League qualifier game. During the final Group Stage game against Cuba he managed to bag a hat-trick adding to the impressive 7 – 0 win.
He would be subsequently awarded the Golden Boot for scoring 6 goals during the tournament.
When the World Cup Qualifiers rolled round, he managed to get his second hat-trick during Canada’s 4 – 0 win against Suriname. Nearing the close of the qualifiers, he’d managed to tally 9 goals, 5 of those came from the 3rd and final round.
Alphonso Davies
Appearances: U17 2 (1 goal) U20 1 / Senior 34 (12 goals)
Goals: 12
Club: Bayern Munich
Now this is one of the players that we’re talking a lot about. From his remarkable personal story to joining the national team, Davies will be one of the young stars to watch at the World Cup.
Within a day of passing his citizenship test to become a Canadian citizen back in June 2017, Davies joined the senior team for a friendly game against Curacao. He was only 16, the youngest player to make the national team. Later in the month, he joined the Gold Cup team against French Guiana, scoring twice to help them win 4 – 2. That also made him the youngest player to score in the Gold Cup too.
He’s been a huge credit to helping Canada making it through the qualifiers.
Want to know more about Davies’ road to representing Canada?
Junior Hoilett
Appearances: Senior 50 (14 goals)
Goals: 14
Club: Reading
While Hoilett had first captained the Canada team as a child during the 2001 Danone Nations Cup in Paris, it would be 14 years later that he would go on to represent Canada again.
The young player was able to represent Canada or Jamaica because of his heritage but also held out for the prospect of playing for England.
He would make his Senior debut in Canada’s game against Ghana in October 2015 and would go on to score a few years later during the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, during the quarter finals against Jamaica. Their opponents would go on to win 2 – 1.
His first hat-trick would come in the 2019 CONCACAF Nations League, against Cuba. That made him the third Canadian player that year to get a hat-trick against Cuba.
Cyle Larin
Appearances: U20 5 (1 goal) / Senior 55 (25 goals)
Goals: 25
Club: Club Brugge
Larin was considered a promising footballer as far back as 2014 during his game time with the University of Connecticut. He was viewed a strong offensive option to help the national team through an expected period of goal drought and winless streaks during upcoming friendlies that year.
He would go on to make his debut against Bulgaria, as a substitute for Simeon Jackson. Canada would later draw with Bulgaria 1 – 1.
Larin became Canada’s all-time goalscorer back in November 2021 after surpassing Dwayne De Rosario’s scoring record (22) by scoring the opening goal in the 2 – 0 win against the United States.
Liam Millar –
Appearances: U20 3 / U23 4 / Senior 16
Club: Basel
Millar first joined the national team in March 2018 and made his debut during their 1 – 0 victory against New Zealand. He went on to play in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup and now in the 26-man squad in Qatar. He’s a versatile player, preferring to play as a number 9 but can easily shift into the left wing. He was described as a good all-rounder player according to Neil Critchley.
Ike Ugbo –
Appearances: England U17 15 (5 goals) / England U20 5 (2 goals) / Canada Senior 8
Club: Troyes
Prior to representing Canada, Ugbo played for the England U17 and U20 teams. He would then decide to play for Canada from November 2021, having also previously shown an interest in playing with Nigeria too. Within a day of changing his allegiance (4 – 5th November), he was called up to join the national team in the 2022 Qualifier games against Costa Rica and Mexico.
He was substituted on in the 83rd minute against Costa Rica, making his debut.
