David scores twice from penalty spot as Canada battles back to tie Iceland in World Cup tune-up
Dress rehearsals happen for a reason, but they’re only useful if the performances improve before opening night.
In one of their last friendlies before they co-host the biggest sporting event on Earth, Canada’s men stumbled to a 2-2 draw against Iceland, the 75th-ranked side in the world, leaving head coach Jesse Marsch’s gaze at times as cold as the freezing temperatures.
The first half saw his mistake-prone team down by two and Marsch headed for the dressing room before the whistle had blown to end it.
Jonathan David coolly converted two penalties in a superior second half—a triple substitution changed the energy of the game—but a needless red card to Tajon Buchanan in the 81st minute ended Canada’s attempted comeback before it could be made complete.
WATCH | David scores brace on penalty kicks:
Jonathan David scores brace on penalty kicks as Canada rallies for draw against Iceland
Canada and Ireland play to a 2-2 draw in an international friendly at BMO Field in Toronto.
Marsch was more sanguine after the game than he was during it.
“There are a lot of learnings,” he said. “But we’ve got to learn from them. That’s the important part.”
Key players missing
There was also a semi-valid excuse for the disarray, especially at the depleted back.
Because of a spate of injuries, as well as Ismael Koné’s suspension, the spine of Canada’s lineup was comprised of players unlikely to start a World Cup game or even make the roster: Joel Waterman and Kamal Miller were the central defenders, and Mathieu Choinière and Nathan Saliba occupied the midfield.
Miller fluffed a pass back to goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair in the ninth minute, which Iceland striker Orri Oskarsson picked up before he scored the easy breakaway.
Oskarsson added another in the 21st minute after Iceland, which failed to qualify for the World Cup, bullied its way up the middle of the pitch, and Waterman and Miller couldn’t catch up to the play.
Waterman, who made a late slide in a fruitless effort to block Oskarsson’s shot, pounded the grass in fury after.
The 26,328 shivering fans in attendance shared his frustration.
Canada, which has slipped to 30th in FIFA’s rankings after reaching a high of 26th following a triumphant European tour in September, should be too good anymore to make such simple, pressure-free mistakes.
For Marsch, the issue with Miller’s pass back was less that he made a bad one, but more that his instinct was to move backward in the first place.
“We want to make mistakes playing forward, not mistakes playing backward,” Marsch said. “That’s the mistake.”
His halftime talk — “It wasn’t like I yelled at them,” he said — focused on encouraging the attack to unlock Iceland’s low block, mostly through tempo and pace.
Flores makes debut
Canada responded. David converted his first penalty when a streaking Buchanan was taken down in the box, shortly after Marsch made his fateful triple change. That included his bringing on a dynamic, confident Marcelo Flores in his debut, a bright spot on an otherwise worrisome afternoon.
“I just love to play the game,” the 22-year-old Flores said after. “I come in and just try to show what I’m about. If you don’t bring your identity, then anyone can be in that place. You need to show who you are and why you deserve to be here.”
Nine minutes later, David put home a second in virtually the same spot after Daniel Jebbison, another substitute, was felled almost exactly where Buchanan had been.
The game felt then as though it would bend Canada’s way. But just when it seemed the afternoon might be fully rescued, Buchanan threw an elbow with the ball nearly out anyway, picking up Canada’s third red card in as many games.
Physical mistakes happen. Mental mistakes — mistakes in decision-making, mistakes in concentration, mistakes in discipline — are maddening. No one should want to exit the World Cup because they forgot their lines and the importance of them.
Upgraded stadium
At least the stage appears to be better set. From the outside, BMO Field’s new stands look a little rickety, like hastily assembled scaffolding. In fact, they make it feel much more intimate despite the tens of thousands of additional seats.
The south stand’s new second tier provides shelter from the lake and its fickleness; the new north stand is steep, like the face of a mountain. The upper decks of both were closed on Saturday, but when they’re full of fans on a warm day in June, BMO Field should feel electric.
“I think the stands look good,” Richie Laryea said before the game. “It makes the stadium look grand. When full, it will probably look a little bit intimidating as well. I think that’s also good. They’ve done a good job with that and how quickly it’s come up.”
WATCH | Toronto feeling ‘World Cup fever’:
Toronto feeling the ‘World Cup fever’ as Canada host friendlies in the city
Excitement for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Toronto is growing as BMO Field hosts two friendly matches this weekend. Canada’s national men’s soccer team is first up, facing off against Iceland Saturday afternoon. CBC’s Naama Weingarten has more on how people in the city are preparing to celebrate the World Cup’s arrival in June.
Canada will play only one group-stage game in Toronto, its opener on June 12, against Italy or Bosnia and Hercegovina, depending on the result of Tuesday’s UEFA playoff for the final spot in Group B.
The men will play their last game in Toronto before they return as World Cup hosts that same evening, when they take on 44th-ranked Tunisia in another friendly.
The opposition should be stiffer, the weather warmer, the stadium fuller. It should feel even more like a game that matters, a more accurate facsimile of June’s white-hot glare.
It will be one more chance to get things closer to right.
