Jesse Marsch named his first Canadian men’s national team squad since the 2024 Copa América on Tuesday for a pair of upcoming friendlies against fellow 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosts the United States and Mexico.

Canada take on the United States on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT in Kansas City, before heading down to Dallas, Texas where they face Mexico on Tuesday, Sept. 10 (8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT).

The squad features a pair of former Canadian Premier League players, now CF Montréal teammates Jonathan Sirois and Joel Waterman. Sirois, who spent two seasons with Valour FC, is receiving his first call-up under Marsch. While he has received multiple call-ups in recent years, the 23-year-old Sirois is still waiting to make his first appearance with Canada.

Waterman, meanwhile, has played three times and was a recent injury replacement on Canada’s Copa América squad after Junior Hoilett was hurt in training. The 28-year-old Waterman was part of Cavalry FC’s squad for the inaugural Canadian Premier League season.

While Marsch’s team is largely made up of familiar faces, there are a pair of first-time call-ups to the national team. Niko Sigur, a 20-year-old defensive midfielder who can also play as a right-back, joins the group after previously representing Croatia at the youth level. He started all three games for Croatia’s U-21 side at the 2023 UEFA European U-21 Championship.

The Burnaby native spent time in the system of League1 Ontario side Vaughan Azzurri, and spent a season with York University in U SPORTS. He has since gone to Europe, where he plays for Hajduk Split in the Croatian top flight, having made 42 appearances over the past three campaigns.

Sigur’s inclusion will be especially important since Ismaël Koné misses out on this camp through an injury suffered in preseason with his new club Marseille. Given Canada’s lack of depth at defensive midfield, he will add another important profile to this Canadian group.

Also receiving his first Canada call-up is 23-year-old forward Stephen Afrifa of Sporting Kansas City. The dynamic attacker, who previously played in League1 Ontario with the Woodbridge Strikers, is having a breakout season in MLS this year, with five goals and three assists in all competitions.

These matches will be good tests for this Canadian side as they look to build toward a run in the 2024-25 Concacaf Nations League competition later this year. The United States are ranked 16th in the world, which is the highest in the region, and Sept. 7 will be their first match under flashy new head coach hire Mauricio Pochettino, whose last three jobs were at Tottenham, PSG and Chelsea.

Mexico, ranked 17th, are also in transition as they play their first matches under new coach (in his third spell managing El Tri) Javier Aguirre, who took over following a disappointing Copa América Tournament. The 65-year-old was most recently Cyle Larin’s club coach at RCD Mallorca before departing at the end of last season.

Here is the full Canada squad: 

GK – Maxime Crépeau / Portland Timbers
GK – Jonathan Sirois / CF Montréal
GK – Dayne St. Clair / Minnesota United
DF – Moïse Bombito / OGC Nice
DF – Derek Cornelius / Olympique de Marseille
DF – Alphonso Davies / Bayern Munich
DF – Alistair Johnston / Celtic FC
DF – Richie Laryea / Toronto FC
DF – Kamal Miller / Portland Timbers
DF – Joel Waterman / CF Montréal
MF – Ali Ahmed / Vancouver Whitecaps
MF – Mathieu Choinière / Grasshopper Club Zurich
MF – Stephen Eustáquio / FC Porto
MF – Jonathan Osorio / Toronto FC
MF – Nathan Saliba / CF Montréal*
MF – Niko Sigur / Hajduk Split
FW – Stephen Afrifa / Sporting Kansas City
FW – Jacen Russell-Rowe / Columbus Crew SC
FW – Jonathan David / Lille OSC
FW – Cyle Larin / RCD Mallorca
FW – Liam Millar / Hull City
FW – Tani Oluwaseyi / Minnesota United
FW – Jacob Shaffelburg / Nashville SC

* Injury replacement for Sam Adekugbe
** Injury replacement for Theo Bair