Canada Soccer targets pair of ex-Premier League coaches for men's national team

With ambitions of success at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Canada is shooting for the stars when it comes to the next head coach of their men’s national team.

According to an article published today by Nizaar Kinsella in UK-based outlet The Standard, Canada Soccer has contacted a pair of former Premier League managers as part of their coaching search.

As per Kinsella, Canada has come into contact with American coach Jesse Marsch and Norwegian coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who most recently coached with Leeds United and Manchester United, respectively.

“Whether Marsch or Solskjaer would go for the opportunity at this stage is unclear,” Kinsella added.

Solskjaer managed Manchester United from 2018-2021, finishing as the runner-up in the 2021 UEFA Europa League. Marsch, meanwhile, most recently coached for Leeds from 2022-23, with previous stops at a trio of clubs with the same owner: RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg, and the New York Red Bulls.

Canada is a co-host of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which guarantees them an automatic spot in the tournament. Earlier this year, they also qualified for Copa America, taking place this summer across 14 American cities.

The news comes on the heels of reports that both Frank Lampard and Jose Mourinho rejected a shot at the position.

Canada is currently coached by interim manager Mauro Biello, who took the job in August when John Herdman departed to take over Toronto FC.

In an interview with CBC’s Players’ Own Voice host Anastasia Bucsis last December, Herdman admitted that the death of his sister was seriously affecting his mental health while in Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup — and that he wishes he’d stepped down from the job prior to the tournament.

“I had just lost my sister to suicide, and it really, really hurt, and it was for a period of time. I’ve never been hurt like that,” Herdman told Bucsis. “I’d always been the fixer in my family, and I couldn’t fix it. So coming out with World Cup qualification, it was like the highest high, then down to the worst experience that I had in my life.”

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