Canada's squad for FIFA World Cup 2026 was officially unveiled on Friday night, and included in the 26-man roster was former Canadian Premier League standout Joel Waterman.
Waterman, a 30-year-old native of Surrey, B.C., played for Cavalry FC in the club's inaugural 2019 campaign, quickly earning himself a move to the MLS level with CF Montréal. Since then, he has established himself as a regular in the Canadian men's national team.
Now with the Chicago Fire in MLS, Waterman has made 17 appearances for Canada at the senior level, 14 of them under Jesse Marsch. He was part of the Canada squad for FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, but did not play in any of the three group stage matches.
Before emerging as a national team regular, Waterman developed into a full professional with Cavalry. He came to the club via the 2018 CPL-U SPORTS Draft, selected 14th overall by the Cavs in the second round out of Trinity Western University.
Waterman was already familiar with some of the Cavalry organization and players from his 2018 season with Premier Development League side Calgary Foothills, who won a championship that year. Prior to his pro debut in the CPL, Waterman also played briefly with TSS Rovers in the PDL and Kitsap Pumas in the NPSL. He played his youth football with Langley United and Surrey United.
Also included in Marsch's squad for the upcoming World Cup are a handful of alumni from Premier Soccer Leagues Canada (formerly League1 Canada).
Richie Laryea, Cyle Larin and Tajon Buchanan all played in the Ontario Premier League (then League1 Ontario) for Sigma FC, while Dayne St. Clair and Alistair Johnston played for Vaughan Azzurri.
Canada's World Cup campaign begins Friday, June 12 in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their Group B campaign continues Thursday, June 18 against Qatar, and Wednesday, June 24 against Switzerland.
The full Canada squad for FIFA World Cup 2026 will be available shortly.
CanMNT World Cup Squad:
GK - Maxime Crépeau (Orlando City SC)
GK - Dayne St. Clair (Inter Miami CF)
GK - Owen Goodman (Barnsley FC)
DF - Alistair Johnston (Celtic FC)
DF - Richie Laryea (Toronto FC)
DF - Niko Sigur (Hajduk Split)
DF - Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)
DF - Moïse Bombito (OGC Nice)
DF - Luc de Fougerolles (FCV Dender)
DF - Derek Cornelius (Rangers FC)
DF - Alfie Jones (Middlesbrough FC)
DF - Joel Waterman (Chicago Fire)
MF - Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC)
MF - Mathieu Choinière (Los Angeles FC)
MF - Stephen Eustáquio (Los Angeles FC)
MF - Ismaël Koné (US Sassuolo)
MF - Nathan Saliba (RSC Anderlecht)
MF - Tajon Buchanan (Villarreal CF)
MF - Liam Millar (Hull City AFC)
MF - Marcelo Flores (Tigres UANL)
MF - Ali Ahmed (Norwich City FC)
MF - Jacob Shaffelburg (Los Angeles FC)
FW - Jonathan David (Juventus FC)
FW - Promise David (Royale Union Saint-Gilloise)
FW - Tani Oluwaseyi (Villarreal CF)
FW - Cyle Larin (Southampton FC)
