Young Canadian Luc de Fougerolles relying on self-belief in advance of possible World Cup debut on Friday
If one of Canada’s men encapsulates how quickly fortunes can turn in the game and in life, it’s 20-year-old Luc de Fougerolles.
Under more ideal circumstances, head coach Jesse Marsch would like to start Moise Bombito and Derek Cornelius as his centre backs. But Bombito, who continues to struggle with the aftereffects of a broken leg, might not make the roster, let alone play Friday’s opener against bruising Bosnia and Herzegovina.
His starting spot will almost certainly be taken by de Fougerolles.
“To be fair, I’ve always backed myself,” he said after Wednesday’s short training session under darkening skies in Toronto. “I’ve always known I’m a good player. I’ve kind of done the right things every day for club and country… I’ve been working my whole life for opportunities like this.”
His self-belief aside, de Fougerolles is an unlikely national-team ascendant. He was born and raised in London, a product of Fulham’s academy on the Thames; he can play for Canada because his father, Jean, was born in Montreal. In 2018, when Canada was named a co-host for this summer’s World Cup, then-11-year-old Luc walked up to his father with a plan for 2026.
“I want to be playing in that,” he said.
A few years later, Jean de Fougerolles sent a message on LinkedIn to Mauro Biello, now Marsch’s assistant but then the head of Canada’s under-23 program.
On this episode of Soccer North, we break down Canada’s upcoming World Cup game against Bosnia and Herzegovina and discuss what Jesse Marsch and the Canadian men’s national team need to accomplish before the tournament begins. Plus, Canadian star Olivia Smith joins the show to reflect on her historic first season with Arsenal.
When Biello became Canada’s interim head coach after John Herdman’s departure in 2023, he brought de Fougerolles to an otherwise disastrous away friendly against Japan. The teenager made his on-field debut under Marsch in Copa America qualifying the following spring. He was tasked with marking Darwin Nunez and Luis Suarez as an 18-year-old in the blistering third-place game against Uruguay that summer.
In 2025’s Gold Cup, he found himself in the rare position of having more caps than first-team club appearances. He couldn’t escape Fulham’s youth sides, but Marsch subjected him to test after test for Canada. He especially caught the heat of attention after he missed his decisive penalty, Canada’s seventh, in the quarterfinal shootout against Guatemala.
That moment might have broken a lesser young man, or at least wounded him. But de Fougerolles fought hard to remind himself of his love for the game rather than the fear of failure that love carries with it.
“If you want to play at the highest level, the mental part of your game is so important,” he said in an exclusive interview with CBC not long after. “I enjoy a high-pressure environment. I take risks when I play. I play without fear. I enjoy playing football so much, and the fact that I enjoy playing it so much helps my mentality.”
For Cornelius, his likely partner on Friday, it mattered more that de Fougerolles was brave enough to take the penalty in the first place. “That’s how you gain respect,” Cornelius said. “Anyone can hit or miss. It’s the action of going to take the penalty that counts.”
De Fougerolles will need to find more of that fearlessness if he starts against Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of his marking assignments could be Edin Dzeko, the veteran captain of the tallest side in the tournament and among its most physical. (Bosnia and Herzegovina’s collection of monstrous men has an average height of nearly six foot two.)
But de Fougerolles’s cherubic smile and shaggy hair belies a body and soul made of bricks.
He spent this past club season on loan to Dender in Belgium, where he faced Promise David, Canada’s own towering forward, in league play. David was asked what it’s like to be tracked by de Fougerolles.
“If he wasn’t good, he wouldn’t be here,” David said. “Whenever I’m playing with him, I’m always careful about my well-being, because I don’t think Luc gives a f—k about anyone’s Achilles or bones or anything. You know that term ‘Brexit means Brexit’? That’s Luc.”
That’s a semi-polite way of saying that he doesn’t quite have Bombito’s ball sense, although he’s finding that, too. During last week’s friendly against Ireland, de Fougerolles demonstrated an emerging talent for distribution, for the forward-thinking mentality that Marsch has preached even to his back line.
“I thought Luc with the ball was outstanding and helped set up a lot of our initial movements to get us into the attack,” Marsch said after. “I thought he was really good on what we call the rush defence.”
What might matter more on Friday, however, is the sturdiness of his game: his ability to slow down and stand up even the biggest opposition, his reads of crosses and set pieces, his resolve under pressure. The World Cup’s group stage is a test of will more than anything else.
For Luc de Fougerolles, it’s also another improbable chance to show that he has what it takes to pass it.
Ismael Koné leaves training session
In a worrisome turn, Ismael Koné, one of Canada’s presumed starting midfielders, left Wednesday’s training session before it began in a car, reason and destination unknown. Canada Soccer did not offer an explanation, and Marsch, who has had a sometimes-contentious relationship with Koné, did not speak to reporters. Koné was wearing a bandage on his left wrist on Tuesday. “Something happened against Ireland,” he said at the time. “I’ll be fine.”
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