Canadian men's soccer head coach senses 'urgency' 500 days from World Cup

Five hundred days to the kickoff of the 2026 World Cup and Canada head coach Jesse Marsch is on the move.

A cross-country string of coaching clinics has already taken Marsch to Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Saskatoon, with stops in Calgary and Vancouver next.

Monday's stop in Calgary just happens to come 500 days ahead of the opening of the 48-team, 104-game World Cup, which begins June 11, 2026 with games in Mexico City (the opening contest for co-host Mexico) and Guadalajara.

Tuesday marks 500 days to the start of the tournament in Canada and United States, the other two co-hosts. Toronto's BMO Field will host Canada's opening game June 12 while SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif, stages the U.S. opener.

Marsch clearly missed the milestone memo.

"I didn't even know that was the case until I hit Toronto," he said, explaining he was hit with a string of questions about the 500-day countdown during interviews there.

Marsch is not big on such benchmarks. He knows what lies ahead, and when. So does Canada Soccer, he says.

"I think in general, once the year turned over [to 2025], the sense of urgency inside [Canada Soccer] has gone up a level. Because we all realize time is going to move fast. So, I think that from the first of the year, there's been a real urgency to really move forward with a lot of our agendas."

For Marsch, that includes assisting Canada Soccer with its fundraising efforts as well as other projects (such as helping improve the youth program).

Next up for his 31st-ranked Canadian men is the March 20 CONCACAF Nations League semifinal against No. 19 Mexico at California's SoFi Stadium, with the winner facing either the 16th-ranked Americans or No. 36 Panama in the final three days