On Tuesday, in the 23rd minute of Canada’s 3-0 victory over Suriname in the Concacaf Nations League quarter-finals, Jonathan David scored his 31st goal for his country to open the scoring.

It is the most any player has ever scored for the Canadian men’s team, and it came in the same way as many of his previous 30, being perfectly positioned in the box and calmly slotting the ball away in the bottom corner of the net.

It was also the ninth goal of Canada’s twelve since Jesse Marsch took charge which David has directly contributed to — the fifth he scored himself. He has played a significant role in several others, be it with his elite ability to press the ball and force turnovers or his exceptional attacking movement.

As the new gaffer’s incredibly successful first year as Canadian men’s national team manager comes to an end, David has proven himself to be the central cog in Marsch’s machine. He starts the press, he creates the goals and his football IQ allows him to constantly be a threat with or without the ball. For a team that wants to play high-tempo attacking football, David is a perfect fit, and he is thriving within the system.

“I’ve said it over and over and over again, he’s the smartest player I’ve ever coached, and he continues to show that every time we take the pitch,” said Marsch in his postgame press conference on Tuesday. “I don’t know that he has real weaknesses.”

Coming into 2024 it had perhaps been a difficult few years for David with the national team. He had a poor showing by his standards at the 2022 World Cup, which led to questions surrounding his performance for the country in big games.

Not registering a shot on target in the 2022-23 Nations League Final against the United States did little to help that opinion. Like many of Canada’s star players, he understandably elected not to play in the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup which followed. He ended 2023 with a rough outing against Jamaica as Canada were bounced from the Nations League quarters — missing a wide-open header late in the second half.

A year later, David was the best player on the pitch as Canada took care of business against Suriname at that very same stage in the Nations League competition.

The victory saw Canada reach the competition’s final four for the second time, and set up a semi-final clash with Mexico on March 20. It also automatically qualified Canada for the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.

David also scored twice for Canada at this summer’s Copa América — and set up Jacob Shaffelburg’s goal against Venezuela in the quarter-finals. He scored and assisted in Canada’s first victory over the United States on American soil since 1957 in September, and scored the winner against Panama in a friendly in October.

His recent dominance under Marsch has come in a slightly different role, one that has given him the freedom to move across the pitch finding pockets of space in which to operate. From those areas, he is not only more difficult to track for opposing defenders but able to be more involved in every phase of Canada’s attack.

“I’m not the biggest, fastest guy in the world,” said David earlier this week. “There’s people that are faster than me, stronger than me, so I have to use my intelligence in ways to get in smart positions.”

Scoring goals is one thing, but this year has seen David’s playmaking ability flourish for the national team. He has assisted on four of Canada’s 13 goals scored under Marsch. David created six chances between the two matches against Suriname, including setting up Junior Hoilett’s vital away goal in the first leg on a lovely ball into the box.

David was unlucky to not have another assist on Tuesday night, as Cyle Larin struck the post after receiving a line-splitting ball from David who had dropped to a pocket deep in midfield. Then a ball he played across goal, nutmegging Stefano Denswil, was just out of the reach of Tajon Buchanan a few minutes later. On the restart, David won the ball back and then nearly set up Ismaël Koné whose shot was blocked.

“I think it does maximize the effect that he can have in the game,” said Marsch of David’s new role, “which is part of the build-up, part of pressing, part of counter-pressing, part of being more than just standing up front to score goals.”

He also serves as Canada’s first line of defence, with himself and Larin often guarding against passes through the centre of the field and forcing opponents to attack out wide, where Canada has not only numbers but speed and quality.

Marsch says that the role is quite different from the more traditional striker position that David occupies for Lille. He has had an outstanding start to the season in France, scoring 13 times in 18 matches in all competitions, including goals in the UEFA Champions League against Real Madrid, Juventus and a brace against Atlético Madrid.

“He’s maybe one of the hottest strikers in Europe right now, he seems to score every match,” said Marsch. “He’s dangerous every match, sets up goals, he’s a complete player.”

That stock could rise even higher in 2025. With his contract up with Lille following this season, David has been linked to just about every big club in Europe over the past few months. With every goal both for Lille and Canada, that noise only grows louder.

But as he looks to go to new heights at the club level, he is already reaching them for Canada. In 2025, with Canada searching for its first trophy since 2000, David could be the difference-maker.