World Cup stories: Who is Canada's most important player?

With just 75 days until they play their first game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Canada's in the final stretch of preparations ahead of that massive match.

They still don't know who their opponent will be for that fixture at Toronto's BMO Field, with Italy and Bosnia & Herzegovina set to battle it out on Tuesday for the right to join the Canadians in Group B. But what Jesse Marsch and his coaching staff do know is that they'll need to pare their squad down to 26 players ahead of the tournamment, and they are using the current international break to run the rule over the player pool one more time.

A number of players are sure-fire locks to make the squad — barring injury, the likes of Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, Ismael Kone, Tajon Buchanan and several others can already look forward to spending their summer on the pitch in Toronto and Vancouver, and possibly beyond, later this year.

But with the Canadians in a potentially tricky group and not blessed with the vast array of top-end talent that the tournament favourites will be bringing to North America, they will depend on a small core of important players to propel them towards their World Cup dreams.

Who are those important players that Marsch will be leaning on? And who is the most important player in Canada's ranks?

DAZN News takes a look at the stand-outs who will wear the Maple Leaf in June, and who will be the most vital piece of the puzzle for the co-host nation.

Who is Canada's most important player?

It's imperative that we mention that Canada's most important player is not necessarily their best player.

Jesse Marsch's entire run as manager has given us a look into who he considers the players he cannot drop, and as the World Cup gets closer it becomes even more obvious which players will bear the brunt of responsibility when the first match kicks off June 12 in Toronto.

Canada's most recent match, a 2-2 friendly draw with Iceland on Saturday on the same BMO Field pitch that will serve as the Canadians' home against either Italy or Bosnia, added another set of data points to consider.

As such, here are Canada's three most important players in descending order:

Alphonso Davies

(Getty Images)

It may come as a shock to see Davies not take the "most important" spot given his profile and accolades as arguably Canada's only true world class player.

Make no mistake: Davies is Canada's best and easily the most visible player in the history of the men's program. The affable 25-year-old is the face of Canadian soccer and the team's captain when available.

But that's the issue, the Bayern Munich star is rarely available. The speedster has not played an international match since March 23, 2025 — more than a year ago.

Since he last pulled on the Maple Leaf, Canada have played 13 games without their biggest star, and will play at least one more against Tunisia on Tuesday night before Davies will have a chance to join a Canada camp again. 

Yet despite his obvious talents, the Canadians have not suffered much without him. They've lost just once in those 13 matches and continued to evolve under Marsch in Davies' absence, leading to questions of just how easily the team will be able to adjust when he eventually steps onto the pitch for Canada again.

None of this is to say that Canada's better off with Davies, but rather that they have not looked demonstrably worse without him. And while this is the longest stretch Canada's gone without Davies in the lineup, this isn't the first time — Davies missed a significant portion of Canada's qualifying campaign ahead of Qatar 2022 and they still finished atop the CONCACAF table to advance to their first World Cup in 36 years.

Does Alphonso Davies make Canada better when he's in the lineup and is he a player that needs to be in the Canadian starting XI? Absolutely.

Is he their most important player? No.

Jonathan David

Kevin Sousa/Getty Images

Probably Canada's second highest-profile player, David has been nothing short of prolific for his national team since making his international debut in 2018.

With 39 goals in 74 matches in Canadian red, the 26-year-old is his country's all-time leading scorer and will likely add enough by the end of his career to keep him in the top spot for decades to come.

A striker in the David mould is literally once-in-a-lifetime for a men's program that has traditionally been starved for goals. However, that alone isn't enough to make David Canada's most important player.

Similar to his cohort Davies, Jonathan David is a massive part of the Canadian program and his excellence will be crucial to any success the team will have this summer.

But just like Davies, he's not the most important.

Moise Bombito

Al Bello/Getty Images

Moise Bombito has only 19 caps for Canada. At nearly 26 years old (Monday is his birthday), the central defender has just 71 appearances in first-division football between the Colorado Rapids in MLS and Ligue 1 side Nice, his current club.

And yet, it's become apparent that Bombito is Canada's most important player.

A physical specimen, Bombito is a late-bloomer who toiled in U.S. junior college and one season of NCAA Division 1 soccer before deing drafted by the Rapids. 

After testing him as a defensive midfielder, it didn't take long for Colorado to realize his true potential as an athletic centre back, and it was at that position where the Montreal native's stock soared. A standout second season with the Rapids led to a breakout performance by Bombito at the 2024 Copa America, where his athleticism and raw instincts allowed him to shine in matches against Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Peru and Uruguay.

From there, Bombito moved on to Nice, where he anchored les Aiglons' backline until a tibia injury sidelined him in October 2025. He's been rehabbing since, and while his absence has been felt for Nice, it's been absolutely noticeable for Canada.

Bombito's recovery speed — he's neck and neck with Davies in that regard — and aerial presence are sorely missed for Marsch's side, who have been forced to play a slightly different style in Bombito's absence.

In Canada's most recent match, with Bombito and usual centre back partner Derek Cornelius not on the field, Iceland were gifted two first-half goals by the makeshift partnership of Kamal Miller and Joel Waterman that would not likely have happened with the Nice defender on the field.

In both of the above goals, Bombito's presence would surely have snuffed out the gilt-edged opportunities given to Orri Óskarsson.

On the first goal, Bombito's recovery speed would have applied more pressure on the Iceland No. 9 after the give-away, and that's assuming such a gaffe would have happened if Bombito was on the field instead of Miller.

For the second goal, Bombito's closing speed would have once again given Óskarsson something to think about, rather than the clear path he had presented to him by Waterman and Miller.

These are just two examples of how Bombito can change things for the better with his presence, and that's not even getting into how much more aggressive Canada could be on the attacking end with his track star speed providing constant assurance at the back.

A healthy Moise Bombito transforms the Canadian side, not just in defence but also higher up the pitch as Jesse Marsch is able to fully implement his preferred high pressing style. Along with Davies and David, Bombito is a foundational piece of the Canada team, but unlike his esteemed and more experienced teammates, only Bombito can claim the title of most important.

​ DAZN/FIFA

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