Early in the 2024/25 English Championship season, then Hull City team-mates Alfie Jones and Liam Millar were chatting in a sauna about the upcoming international break when Jones casually mentioned that his late grandmother had been born in Alberta, Canada before moving to England as a teenager.
Knowing full well that coach Jesse Marsch was keen to dramatically expand the player pool by bringing in dual nationals, immediately informed the American about the centre-back's family ancestry. The proactive coach quickly called Jones, who instantly expressed excitement about playing international football for the first time in his career.
“[Marsch] was the first manager ever to call me. I don’t know if anyone knew that I had a Canadian connection,” Jones told Sports Illustrated. “As soon as he called me, it was ‘I want to be there, let’s start the process to get it done... I’m all-in'."
The aim was for Jones to be called up to the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup squad but significant administrative delays meant that the defender, who now plays for Middlesbrough, did not take his Canadian Oath of Citizenship until November 2025 before making his debut for the country in a 2-0 friendly victory over Venezuela.
Jones' arrival into the Canada squad — which has significantly shored up the defensive line — highlights the varying ways in which Marsch has expanded, and indeed enhanced, the national team since his arrival in May 2024.
In his , no fewer than seven of the participants are dual nationals that Marsch has recruited over the past two years. Other players include goalkeeper Owen Goodman and defender Luc de Fougerolles, who were both born in England, Nigeria-eligible forward Tani Oluwaseyi, full-back Niko Sigur who was eligible for Croatia, striker Promise David who was called up to Nigeria U-23s, and most recently Marcelo Flores, who switched international allegiances from Mexico.
These players have bolstered a squad that includes long-established stars such as Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David and Cyle Larin, providing much-needed options and strength in depth.
There is no doubt that Canada's impressive performances under Marsch, most notably the run to the semi-finals of the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024, have also played a key role in enticing many of these dual nationals to play in a home World Cup.
It was not always this way for Canada with former Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves choosing to represent England, Toronto-born midfielder Jonathan de Guzman opting for the Netherlands and Calgary-born defender Fikayo Tomori playing for England.
"Maybe some players were thinking that the opportunity to go to a different nation might be better because they might be able to compete more at the international level," Marsch told reporters in June 2024. "I think that now that we've shown that we can compete, the recruitment process I think will hopefully be a little bit easier and cleaner. [We can] say, 'Come to Canada and we can really make some big waves in the World Cup in 2026'."
As Canada prepare to take on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland at the global showpiece, Marsch's intensive efforts both on and off the field have created solid building blocks not only for the present but for the long-term as well.
Sources: FIFA Official
