{
    "title": "16 fun facts about members of Canada\u2019s FIFA World Cup squad",
    "modified_at": "2026-06-19 20:55:48",
    "published_at": "2026-06-13 05:00:00",
    "url": "https://news.canadasoccer.com/16-fun-facts-about-members-of-canadas-fifa-world-cup-squad",
    "short_url": "http://prez.ly/kkJd",
    "culture": "en",
    "language": "EN",
    "subtitle": "Get to know the faces behind the hype with 16 fascinating facts about the Canadian players who took the pitch for Friday's dramatic World Cup opener.",
    "slug": "16-fun-facts-about-members-of-canadas-fifa-world-cup-squad",
    "body": "<p>By <a href=\"https://olympic.ca/author/dsquizzato/\">Daniel Squizzato</a> of the<strong> Canadian Olympic Committee</strong></p><p style=\"text-align: left\">The nation is buzzing after Canada&rsquo;s <a href=\"https://olympic.ca/2026/06/12/canada-claims-historic-draw-in-fifa-world-cup-opener/\">dramatic 1-1 draw in its opening match of the FIFA World Cup</a> on Friday.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">The excitement of the tournament, which is being co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the USA, has brought unprecedented levels of attention to the Canadian men&rsquo;s national team.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">So perhaps you&rsquo;re like many Canadians in not knowing too much about the boys in red. Never fear. We&rsquo;ve got some fascinating tidbits about each of the 16 Canadians who saw action in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>READ: </strong><a href=\"https://olympic.ca/2026/06/05/how-accessibility-and-alignment-turned-canada-into-a-soccer-power/\"><strong>How accessibility and alignment turned Canada into a soccer power</strong></a></p><p style=\"text-align: left\">First up in Canada&rsquo;s goal scoring hero, <strong>Cyle Larin</strong>. Perhaps, when reading his first name, you didn&rsquo;t know it&rsquo;s pronounced the same as Kyle.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">So why does it start with &ldquo;C&rdquo; instead of &ldquo;K&rdquo;? It&rsquo;s a tribute to Larin&rsquo;s godmother, Cimone. As Larin&rsquo;s mother Patricia <a href=\"https://www.canadiansoccernews.com/csn-archives/it-s-called-football1402639984/24th-minute/the-story-behind-the-39c39-in-cyle-r5405/\">told reporters back in 2015</a>, &ldquo;a lot of people make fun of how I spell his name, but I just joke back, &lsquo;C&rsquo; is the Canadian way.&rdquo;</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">Another hero on the day was goalkeeper <strong>Maxime Cr&eacute;peau</strong>. His second-half save on a Bosnian breakaway kept the game within reach for Canada.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">The 32-year-old was born in Greenfield Park, Quebec, but he&rsquo;s not the only notable athlete associated with the town.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">There&rsquo;s also four-time Olympic medallist <a href=\"https://olympic.ca/team-canada/emilie-heymans/\">&Eacute;milie Heymans</a> (diving) and three-time medallist <a href=\"https://olympic.ca/team-canada/charline-labonte-1/\">Charline Labont&eacute;</a> (hockey). Not to mention fellow soccer player Isabelle Morneau, who was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2014.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">Providing the assist on Larin&rsquo;s goal was <strong>Promise David</strong>. He&rsquo;s a relative newcomer to the national team, but made his World Cup dreams clear years ago:</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">&nbsp;</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">He isn&rsquo;t related to teammate <strong>Jonathan David</strong>. But in case the name stuff is confusing, you can use Jonathan&rsquo;s nickname instead. It&rsquo;s Iceman, based on his demeanour and his coolness in front of goal.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">On the nickname front, Nova Scotia&rsquo;s own <strong>Jacob Shaffelburg</strong> has a decent one too: Maritime Messi.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">Striker <strong>Tani Oluwaseyi</strong> doesn&rsquo;t have a nickname yet, but he&rsquo;s got a guilty pleasure. The 26-year-old <a href=\"https://torontolife.com/city/tani-oluwaseyi-mississauga-world-cup-team-canada-soccer/\">recently told <em>Toronto Life</em> magazine</a> he&rsquo;s a fan of British reality TV show <em>Love Island</em>: &ldquo;I hate reality TV in general, but something about that show just moves me.&rdquo;</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">Speaking of movement, midfielder <strong>Tajon Buchanan</strong> always has plenty of it down the right wing. His dynamic play earned him a move to Inter Milan in 2024, making him the first Canadian to ever play in Italy&rsquo;s Serie A.</p>\n    <figure\n        class=\"release-content-image release-content-image--contained release-content-image--align-center\"\n        data-component=\"image-zoom-popup\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-selector=\".release-content-image__image\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-i18n=\"data:application/json;base64,eyJEb3dubG9hZCI6IkRvd25sb2FkIn0=\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-views-event=\"Story Image View\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-download-event=\"Story Image Download\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-placement=\"content\"\n    >\n        <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover\" style=\"width: 100%\">\n            <img\n                src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/f7ef2f18-548f-4af7-8c6e-a0276f6c2667/-/format/auto/\"\n                                class=\"release-content-image__image image-thumbnail-rollover__image\"\n                data-description=\"Tajon Buchanan reacts during a training session with the Canadian men&amp;#039;s national team on June 11, 2026. (Credit: Audrey Magny/Canada Soccer)\"\n                id=\"image-f7ef2f18-548f-4af7-8c6e-a0276f6c2667\"\n                data-id=\"f7ef2f18-548f-4af7-8c6e-a0276f6c2667\"\n                data-original=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/f7ef2f18-548f-4af7-8c6e-a0276f6c2667/-/inline/no/\"\n                data-mfp-src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/f7ef2f18-548f-4af7-8c6e-a0276f6c2667/-/format/auto/\"\n                alt=\"Tajon Buchanan reacts during a training session with the Canadian men's national team on June 11, 2026. (Credit: Audrey Magny/Canada Soccer)\"\n            />\n            <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover__caption\">\n                <svg class=\"icon icon-expand image-thumbnail-rollover__caption-icon\">\n                <use xlink:href=\"#icon-expand\"></use>\n            </svg>            </div>\n        </div>\n\n        <figcaption class=\"release-content-image__caption\">Tajon Buchanan reacts during a training session with the Canadian men&#039;s national team on June 11, 2026. (Credit: Audrey Magny/Canada Soccer)</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n<p>Tajon Buchanan reacts during a training session with the Canadian men&rsquo;s national team on June 11, 2026. (Credit: Audrey Magny/Canada Soccer)</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">That opened the door for other Canadians, such as <strong>Isma&euml;l Kon&eacute;</strong>, who currently plays for Sassuolo. The 23-year-old, already playing in his second FIFA World Cup, made headlines in September following a tense exchange with Canada head coach Jesse Marsch.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">But Marsch and Kon&eacute; quickly made amends, with Marsch <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LCCGlpifl5g\">saying soon afterwards</a> that the rupture and repair brought the two of them &ldquo;closer than [they&rsquo;ve] ever been&rdquo;.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">His partner in central midfield, <strong>Stephen Eust&aacute;quio</strong>, is similarly fiery. His older brother Mauro represented Canada at the youth levels, and currently manages Inter Toronto FC in the Canadian Premier League.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>READ: </strong><a href=\"https://olympic.ca/2022/11/22/top-10-historic-moments-for-canadas-national-soccer-teams/\"><strong>Top 12 historic moments for Canada&rsquo;s national soccer teams</strong></a></p><p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>Alistair Johnston</strong> also has a soccer-playing sibling: his younger brother, Malcolm. Now, the elder Johnston is a defender and isn&rsquo;t expected to score lots of goals.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">In fact, his only goal for the national team came in Canada&rsquo;s most lopsided win ever: a 11-0 victory over the Cayman Islands in 2021.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">Fellow defender <strong>Derek Cornelius</strong> also has one career goal for Canada. But here&rsquo;s his fun fact: <a href=\"https://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/getting-know-derek-cornelius\">his go-to karaoke song</a> would be <em>Three Little Birds</em> by Bob Marley.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">A two-for-one fun fact: both <strong>Liam Millar</strong> and <strong>Luc de Fougerolles</strong> were part of the youth academy of English Premier League club Fulham (though not at the same time).</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">Impressively, Millar left southern Ontario to join the London-based club at age 13. Meanwhile, de Fougerolles (who was born and raised in London) joined the academy at just 8 years old!</p>\n    <figure\n        class=\"release-content-image release-content-image--contained release-content-image--align-center\"\n        data-component=\"image-zoom-popup\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-selector=\".release-content-image__image\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-i18n=\"data:application/json;base64,eyJEb3dubG9hZCI6IkRvd25sb2FkIn0=\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-views-event=\"Story Image View\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-download-event=\"Story Image Download\"\n        data-image-zoom-popup-placement=\"content\"\n    >\n        <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover\" style=\"width: 100%\">\n            <img\n                src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/32af6af9-cefd-4d31-998d-bd109c4cd094/-/format/auto/\"\n                                class=\"release-content-image__image image-thumbnail-rollover__image\"\n                data-description=\"Canada&amp;#039;s Liam Millar controls the ball during a friendly match against Republic of Ireland on June 5, 2026\"\n                id=\"image-32af6af9-cefd-4d31-998d-bd109c4cd094\"\n                data-id=\"32af6af9-cefd-4d31-998d-bd109c4cd094\"\n                data-original=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/32af6af9-cefd-4d31-998d-bd109c4cd094/-/inline/no/\"\n                data-mfp-src=\"https://cdn.uc.assets.prezly.com/32af6af9-cefd-4d31-998d-bd109c4cd094/-/format/auto/\"\n                alt=\"Canada's Liam Millar controls the ball during a friendly match against Republic of Ireland on June 5, 2026\"\n            />\n            <div class=\"image-thumbnail-rollover__caption\">\n                <svg class=\"icon icon-expand image-thumbnail-rollover__caption-icon\">\n                <use xlink:href=\"#icon-expand\"></use>\n            </svg>            </div>\n        </div>\n\n        <figcaption class=\"release-content-image__caption\">Canada&#039;s Liam Millar controls the ball during a friendly match against Republic of Ireland on June 5, 2026</figcaption>\n    </figure>\n<p>Canada&rsquo;s Liam Millar controls the ball during a friendly match against Republic of Ireland on June 5, 2026. (Credit: Audrey Magny/Canada Soccer)</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">There are other connective spiderwebs on this Canada team too. <strong>Richie Laryea </strong>and Cyle Larin both played for semi-pro Sigma FC in the mid-2010s. They were both drafted by Orlando City SC in Major League Soccer (Larin in 2015, Laryea in 2016).</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">And they both have last names starting with &ldquo;Lar&rdquo; &mdash; which isn&rsquo;t super interesting, but facts flow better when they come in groups of three.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">Here, let&rsquo;s do another groups-of-three example. Midfielder <strong>Ali Ahmed</strong> (one) began playing soccer at age 6 with the North Toronto Soccer Club. So did Olympic gold medallist <a href=\"https://olympic.ca/team-canada/quinn/\">Quinn</a> (two) and me, the person who wrote this article (three).</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">OK, maybe the groups-of-three thing doesn&rsquo;t always work.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>READ: </strong><a href=\"https://olympic.ca/2021/08/06/team-canadas-quinn-makes-their-own-olympic-history/\"><strong>Team Canada&rsquo;s Quinn makes their own Olympic history</strong></a></p><p style=\"text-align: left\">But what does always work is <strong>Jonathan Osorio</strong>, the elder statesman of this Canada team. The Toronto FC captain has played for his hometown club for 13 years, his entire professional career.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\">And finally, on Friday, he got to take the field for his country on that same field he&rsquo;s patrolled hundreds of times.</p><p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>Best of all? It was on his 34th birthday.</strong></p>",
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