Chris Jones reports on Canada’s World Cup team from Charlotte, N.C.
On World Cup rosters, there is a 26th man who will live out his dreams, and a 27th man who will see them evaporate in front of his eyes.
For Canada’s men, Jacob Shaffelburg is the lucky one. Daniel Jebbison is the lost one.
Head coach Jesse Marsch made five other cuts at his camp in Charlotte on Friday, and none of them were surprises. Defenders Ralph Priso, Zorhan Bassong, and Jamie Knight-Lebel, midfielder Jayden Nelson, and forward Jacen Russell-Rowe didn’t make it. The truth is, they all probably knew what was coming before Marsch broke their hearts along with the news.
Shaffelburg, a winger, had seemed doomed, too.
He had surgery for a degenerative groin condition in January; just before camp, he picked up a separate leg injury playing for LAFC. He has not trained with the team in Charlotte. He’s worked out by himself in distant corners of distant fields, looking uncomfortable walking, let alone running with pace, the way he normally does.
Jebbison, a forward, is healthy. He scored six goals in 38 appearances with Preston North End in England’s Championship this season. He made Canada’s rosters for the Gold Cup and CONCACAF Nations League Finals last year. He came on as a substitute in both of Canada’s March friendlies against Iceland and Tunisia. He wasn’t there to ride the bench. He played.
Now he’s on his way back to England, to watch if he can stand it.
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In some ways, Jebbison is a victim of Promise David’s improbable success. David ruptured his hip tendon in February and was expected to be out for six months, returning well after the World Cup. Had that prognosis proved true, Jebbison would have certainly made the team. Instead, David has made it back in three.
Marsch must be confident in David’s repaired tendon, the thread by which so much now hangs. He’s bringing only four pure forwards into the opening game against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12 in Toronto: David, Jonathan David, Cyle Larin, and Tani Oluwaseyi.
If one of them falters after the tournament starts — if Promise David’s recovery isn’t as complete as it seems — Marsch will have only one forward on the bench. Given the high press that he employs, he hasn’t left himself with much margin for breakdowns. Marcelo Flores, normally a midfielder, now becomes a diminutive fifth option up front.
Jebbison was born in Oakville, Ont., but his mother is English, and he made 13 appearances with England’s youth teams before Marsch convinced him to switch allegiance. “For me, the reason it’s Canada now: We’re such a young, crazy athletic team,” Jebbison told CBC last March. “I’m also young, I’m also fast, I’m also athletic. There’s a co-relation there. Imagine us in our prime.”
Now that Jebbison’s played senior soccer for Canada, he can’t switch back. At 22, he has only one path to play in the World Cup. He’s a proud man, of high stock, and it’s hard to imagine his getting over Marsch’s surprise choice.
Perhaps Jebbison will one day return to play for Canada, refocused on proving Marsch wrong in 2030.
Just now, though, he must be feeling deeply wounded.
Marsch has taken 10 midfielders, including Shaffelburg, Canada’s “Maritime Messi.” It’s a double gamble, beyond injury concerns. Shaffelburg was spectacular during Canada’s inspiring Copa America run in 2024; he also effectively ended Canada’s Gold Cup chances when he was sent off for a senseless shoulder challenge against Guatemala.
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Marsch has clearly forgiven Shaffelburg. He also has time to change his mind. If FIFA’s medical committee agrees that a player is unfit, he can be replaced on the roster until 24 hours before a team’s opening match. In Canada’s case, that makes June 11 the more concrete 26-man deadline.
With Shaffelburg, Alfie Jones, and Alphonso Davies all some version of delicate — Davies has missed the entire camp to continue treatment for his latest hamstring injury in Munich — Marsch has asked Nelson, Priso, and Bassong to travel with the team through next week’s friendlies against Uzbekistan and Ireland. There’s still a chance, however slim, for their fortunes to turn.
But Daniel Jebbison is on the wrong side of the line that separates dreams from despair, and barring incredible drama, that’s where he’ll stay.
He is Canada’s 27th man.
Canada’s final roster for World Cup:
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crépeau, Owen Goodman, Dayne St. Clair
Defenders: Moise Bombito, Derek Cornelius, Alphonso Davies, Luc de Fougerolles, Alistair Johnston, Alfie Jones, Richie Laryea, Niko Sigur, Joel Waterman
Midfielders: Ali Ahmed, Tajon Buchanan, Mathieu Choinière, Stephen Eustáquio, Marcelo Flores, Ismael Koné, Liam Millar, Jonathan Osorio, Nathan Saliba, Jacob Shaffelburg
Forwards: Jonathan David, Promise David, Cyle Larin, Tani Oluwaseyi
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