Here are some things for Canadian fans to follow during a pretty busy weekend on the global sports scene.
Soccer: Canada’s final tuneup for the World Cup
Coming off their 2-0 win over Uzbekistan on Monday in Edmonton, the Canadian men’s soccer team plays its last exhibition match before the World Cup tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET in Montreal against Ireland. Unlike Uzbekistan, the Irish did not qualify for the World Cup, which kicks off on Thursday. Canada’s first game is next Friday in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Yesterday, Canada head coach Jesse Marsch announced his starting goalkeeper, giving Maxime Crepeau the nod over Dayne St. Clair. In 2022, Crepeau was in line to back up veteran starter Milan Borjan until he broke his leg just a few weeks before the World Cup in Qatar.
Marsch is still mulling a replacement for midfielder Marcelo Flores, who tore his ACL last weekend. The coach seemed impressed by 23-year-old Jayden Nelson, who scored the second goal against Uzbekistan, but said he’ll wait until after tonight’s match to make a decision.
Captain Alphonso Davies is expected to sit out again as the star wing-back continues his recovery from a hamstring injury that has him doubtful for the opener, while starting centre-back Moïse Bombito is a question mark after playing only 30 minutes on Monday due to soreness in his surgically repaired leg.
Tennis: French Open finals
Second-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany advanced to Sunday’s men’s final by defeating No. 26 Jakub Mensik of Czechia 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 today. He’ll face No. 10 Flavio Cobolli, who was gifted his first trip to a major final when fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi pulled out of their matchup due to an illness. Zverev, 29, is 0-3 in Grand Slam finals but has won the lucrative ATP Finals twice and captured the Olympic men’s gold medal in 2021.
The women’s final on Saturday pits Polish upstart Maja Chwalinska against eighth-seeded Russian Mirra Andreeva. Chwalinska, ranked 114th in the world, is just the second qualifier to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open era (Toronto-born Emma Raducanu, who represents Great Britain, won the U.S. Open in 2021). Andreeva, 19, is also playing in her first major final.
Today, Canada’s Gaby Dabrowski and her Brazilian teammate Luisa Stefani got smoked 6-0, 6-1 by No. 1 seeds Katerina Siniakova of Czechia and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. in the women’s doubles semifinals. Dabrowski also lost the mixed doubles final yesterday with American Evan King.
Golf: 16-year-old Canadian in the mix at U.S. Women’s Open
You might remember the name Aphrodite Deng from last summer’s Canadian Women’s Open, where the then 15-year-old was tied for second place after the opening round before finishing in a tie for 20th as fellow Canadian Brooke Henderson won the tournament.
Yesterday, Deng made some noise in her U.S. Women’s Open debut, shooting 1 under par at the beloved Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles to sit in a tie for 14th after the opening round, four shots behind leader Jennifer Kupcho of the United States. At our publish time, Deng had fallen to a tie for 40th while Henderson had climbed into a tie for 30th as both players approached the end of their second round. Here’s a live leaderboard.
This week’s PGA Tour stop is the Memorial, the $20-million “signature” event hosted by Jack Nicklaus at Muirfield in Ohio. Canada’s Nick Taylor was alone in fifth place after the first round, but a rough start today dropped him down the leaderboard. American Ryan Gerard held the clubhouse lead at our publish time. Check the updated scores here.
Track and field: Arop makes season debut, De Grasse battles 100m world champ
Canadian 800m star Marco Arop will run his first significant race of 2026 on Sunday at a Diamond League meet in Stockholm. The 2023 world champion and 2024 Olympic silver medallist will not have to face reigning Olympic and world champ Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya, who competed last weekend in Morocco and, surprisingly, lost to Britain’s Max Burgin, who’s also not racing here.
Canada’s Sarah Mitton, a two-time indoor world champion in the shot put, is also competing in Stockholm, where eyes will be on Sweden’s pole vault superstar Mondo Duplantis to see if he can break his own world record again in front of a home crowd. Watch the meet live on Sunday from 11 a.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET on CBC Gem. Here’s the full schedule and startlists.
This weekend’s World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet in Texas includes Canada’s Olympic and world women’s hammer throw champion Camryn Rogers, who won in Finland on Wednesday to remain undefeated in more than a year. Canada’s seven-time Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse will face reigning world champion Oblique Seville of Jamaica in the men’s 100m. Watch that meet live on Saturday from 4-6 p.m. ET on CBC Gem.
No Canadians competed at yesterday’s Diamond League meet in Rome, where Olympic men’s 100m champion Noah Lyles of the U.S. clocked an impressive 9.88 seconds for the win and Olympic women’s 100m gold medallist Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia outduelled 200m world champ Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the U.S. in the 200.
Other stuff to watch:
* The final leg of the rugby sevens world championship is underway in France, where the Olympic silver-winning Canadian women’s team is looking to retain a spot in the first division of the world tour for next season. The top eight get in, and Canada is tied for fourth in the standings with France after losing the bronze-medal game at each of the first two world-championship stops. The Canadians beat lower-ranked Spain and Great Britain today and will conclude group play on Saturday against the third-place United States. The medal rounds are on Sunday.
* Canada’s women’s volleyball team scored a big win last night at its Nations League season opener in Quebec City, beating the United States for the first time ever in league play. Canada (1-1) faces France on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET and Japan on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. Watch both matches live on CBC Gem.
* Basketball’s 3×3 World Cup runs through Sunday in Poland. Canada had a team in the women’s tournament, but it was eliminated after going 2-2 in its group. The women’s and men’s knockout rounds are now underway, and you can watch them here or on CBC Gem through the medal games on Sunday. Here’s the full schedule and results.
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