Canada is set to experience a historic moment in 2026: for the first time, the team will play in a World Cup on home soil. Jesse Marsch, the former manager of RB Leipzig and Leeds United, took charge of the team in 2024 and has built a formidable side. With Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David and other top players from Europe’s top leagues, Canada’s squad is stronger than ever before.

Manager Jesse Marsch has named three goalkeepers for the Reds: Maxime Crépeau, Dayne St. Clair and Owen Goodman. Canada, as co-hosts, will play in front of their home crowd and face Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland in Group B. What makes this trio of goalkeepers unique is that, for the first time in his tenure, Marsch has not named a clear number one, but instead has two equally matched first-choice goalkeepers. The contest is deadlocked, with the decision to be made just days before the tournament.

Crépeau is 31 years old, hails from Greenfield Park in Quebec, and has a World Cup story that began with a tragedy. In the 2022 MLS Cup Final, he broke his leg whilst preventing an equaliser and colliding with an opponent. He saved the game, lost his place in the World Cup squad and missed Canada’s first World Cup since 1986 entirely. What followed was an impressive comeback.

At the 2024 Copa América, Crépeau played every minute of every match and led Canada to the semi-finals, where only Argentina ended their run in a penalty shoot-out. With 30 international caps to his name, he is Canada’s most experienced goalkeeper. His career has taken him to Montreal, Vancouver, LAFC, Portland and, since January 2026, Orlando City. In the current MLS season, he has featured in five matches, suffering one defeat and seeing little playing time. Marsch nevertheless regards him as on a par with St. Clair and is giving him 45 minutes in the friendly against Uzbekistan to help make a decision.

St. Clair is 28 years old, was born in Pickering, Ontario, and enjoyed the best season of his career in 2025: he was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year with Minnesota United, boasting the highest save percentage in the entire league, with 113 saves and ten clean sheets in 30 matches. After seven years in Minnesota, he moved to Inter Miami, the reigning MLS Cup champions, in January 2026. There, he initially competed with the existing squad and made 29 competitive appearances that season.

He was in the squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but did not play. Since then, he has established himself as Canada’s clear first choice. Marsch has said he would be “tormented” to tell one of them he wasn’t number one. That speaks volumes about the quality of both keepers. For St. Clair, the World Cup on home soil is the long-awaited moment when he wants to show what he can do on the biggest stage.

Goodman is 22 years old, was born in Harold Wood, London, moved to Alliston in Ontario at the age of five, and joined the Crystal Palace academy in 2015. He has one of the most extraordinary stories in this squad: As a child, he played for Canadian clubs, was called up by England for the U20s and made two appearances for the Three Lions – but ultimately opted for Canada, his adopted home. His first senior squad call-up came in November 2025, though he has yet to make his debut.

At club level, he has accumulated an astonishing amount of playing time in just a few years: in League Two with Colchester and AFC Wimbledon, where he won the League Two Golden Glove in 2024/25 and helped Wimbledon secure promotion to League One. He has been on loan at Barnsley since January 2026, where he quickly established himself as first choice. With zero international caps at a World Cup – this is a story that knows no shortcuts.