Cyle Larin’s star-crossed career took another strange turn this week.
A former lock starter for Canada alongside Jonathan David up front, he’d lost his place under head coach Jesse Marsch, who questioned the 31-year-old’s motivation. After miserable stints at Mallorca and Feyenoord in February, he arrived in Southampton, adrift in the middle of England’s Championship, with limited expectations.
Something magical and overdue happened for him there. He scored nine goals in 22 appearances and didn’t lose a game with the Saints outside their narrow defeat to eventual champions Manchester City in their FA Cup semifinal.
Southampton climbed to fourth in the table, good enough to compete in the four-team playoff for the Premier League’s last open spot, before beating Middlesbrough on aggregate to reach this Saturday’s final against Hull.
But on Tuesday, Larin’s top-flight dreams were dashed when Southampton were punished for spying on opposition training sessions, including Middlesbrough before their opening leg. The Saints were stripped of their place in the final, replaced by Middlesbrough, and will start next season back in the Championship with a four-point deduction.
Southampton appealed. Late Wednesday, the English Football League’s arbitration panel upheld the punishment. Someone else will be going up.
Making matters worse for Larin, his loan agreement included a guarantee of a permanent transfer had the Saints won their promotion. A measure of hard-won certainty, especially weeks before the World Cup, would have shored his confidence.
Instead, Tonda Eckert, his admiring manager, is likely to be banned or sacked, and Southampton’s players are mulling over a lawsuit against their own club. Larin’s entire professional situation is, to put it mildly, suddenly less than ideal.
On the side of silver linings, a Canadian will still almost certainly play in next season’s Premier League. Liam Millar is a strong starter for Hull, and while defender Alfie Jones continues his longer-than-expected recovery from ankle surgery, he should feature for Middlesbrough.
Larin’s late-season revival has also likely re-earned him his former starting role with Canada, pushing some combination of Tani Oluwaseyi, Junior Hoilett, Marcelo Flores, Daniel Jebbison, and Promise David, if he recovers from his hip injury in time, to the bench.
“I think we can go as far as we want to, and our mentality now compared to the last World Cup is a lot different,” Larin told FIFA this week. “We’re not just there to be there—we’re there to win something.”
With the World Cup just around the corner, Canada’s roster decisions are heating up.
We break down who the locks are, who’s on the bubble, and which players could surprise their way onto the squad. Plus, what each player brings to the team and how this group could shape Canada’s World Cup run.
Johnston’s Celtic won the Scottish Premiership
Alistair Johnston’s Celtic won the Scottish Premiership for the fifth consecutive season with a final-day defeat of Hearts last Saturday.
It wasn’t a great afternoon for romantics—Hearts were looking to claim their first title since 1960 with either a win or draw—but Johnston’s performance bodes well for Canada. He played the entire game and looked fully recovered from the hamstring injury that had kept him sidelined for five months before his late-April return.
Niko Sigur has performed mostly admirably in Johnston’s absence at right back, and he’ll be disappointed if he’s relegated to reserve status. But there are so many doubts about Canada’s back line—Jones, Alphonso Davies, Richie Laryea, Moise Bombito, and Luc de Fougerolles are all various levels of injured—Johnston’s return will be a welcome one.
Crépeau or St. Clair?
Marsch has long said his starting goalkeeper will be either Maxime Crépeau or Dayne St. Clair, but James Pantemis, a former national-team backup who hasn’t featured much during Marsch’s tenure, is making a case for consideration, at least as a third option.
He’s had some moments of brilliance, if mixed results, with the Portland Timbers this season. Pantemis, who was on the Canadian roster but didn’t play in Qatar in 2022, famously beat out Crépeau for the starting job in Portland last season, forcing him to find a new home in Orlando City.
Marsch has seemed set on 22-year-old Owen Goodman as his third. Giving one of Canada’s young goalkeepers the chance to experience a World Cup before he starts in one is a smart move in futureproofing. But on the rare chance that both Crépeau and St. Clair can’t play, the 29-year-old Pantemis might be the better present-day choice.
Canada Soccer releases schedule
On Tuesday, Canada Soccer released its schedule for its pre-World Cup training camp in Charlotte. The first full team training session will take place on May 26, with three more days of practice before Marsch announces his roster on May 29.
The final squad will then travel to Edmonton on May 30 before it faces Uzbekistan in a friendly on June 1.
Canada will open its World Cup—the third in the history of the men’s program and the first at home—against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto on June 12.
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