Hasal and MacNaughton earn first Canada call ups

Goalkeeper Thomas Hasal and centre back Lukas MacNaughton have both earned their first-ever call ups to Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team. The two Canadian players have been selected by Head Coach John Herdman ahead of an away international match against Bahrain on 11 November 2022 in Manama, Bahrain.

Hasal, 23, has spent the past four seasons with Vancouver Whitecaps FC, albeit he missed part of the team’s Canadian Championship winning season through injury. A former Canada youth international, he represented Canada at the Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship in 2017 and 2018. Born in Cambridge, Ontario, but raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan after spending time in Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton, Hasal was 21 years old when he made his Major League Soccer début on 19 June 2020.

MacNaughton, 27, spent the recent season in Major League Soccer with Toronto FC and was part of the team’s delayed 2020 Canadian Championship victory in June 2022. He previously won the 2021 Canadian Premier League Championship with Pacific FC. Growing up, MacNaughton has played his football in Belgium in Canada, having arrived in Toronto in 2013 to attend the University of Toronto. He represented Canada’s university team at two Universiade Men’s Football Tournaments before turning pro in 2019.

Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team are the reigning Kings of Concacaf, having finished first overall in the Concacaf Final Round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers from September 2021 to March 2022. It marked the third time that Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team won a Concacaf title, having previously won the 1985 Concacaf Championship and the 2000 Concacaf Gold Cup. Canada now look forward to their second participation at the men’s FIFA World Cup™ with group matches against Belgium on 23 November, Croatia on 27 November, and Morocco on 1 December.