Jesse Marsch Credit: Fox Sports
By Sean Keeley on

The Canadian men’s soccer team had a great run through the 2026 FIFA World Cup that’s likely to be remembered, though perhaps not for the reasons it should.

While the Canadians advanced to the knockout stage before losing in the Round of 16 to Morocco 3-0, it’s the comments from head coach Jesse Marsch that will linger in people’s minds more than their solid play.

After the loss, Marsch said in his post-match interview that despite being bested, he would still rather be on his side than Morocco’s.

“What a privilege our fans have had to root a team on like this, that goes after the game, that doesn’t play defensive, that shows that they can be better,” Marsch said when asked about what the future might look like for Canadian soccer. “Right, of course, we have to be in these situations more and more, and we have to find ways to succeed, and we have to build from that. But what a great team.

“I’d rather be us than them, as good as Morocco is, I’d rather be us. I’m really proud of our guys, we went after the game. They’re hurting right now, but my goodness, I couldn’t be prouder.”

On paper, it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary for a head coach to commend his players for their efforts despite a loss, and one would hope that their leader stood by them even in defeat.

But with Marsch, there’s been a sense all tournament long that he’s just a bit much. And the effusive way that he said he’d rather be the team that lost rather than the one advancing in the World Cup, moments after the game ended, rubbed some folks the wrong way.

“Did he just say he’d rather be Canada than Morocco?” asked Landon Donovan. “Wouldn’t you rather be still in the tournament? I don’t really understand that.”

“Canada’s going home. Morocco is going on. So, I would rather be a team that won and is going on. I get the romantic notion that Jesse is talking about there, and they will continue to talk about him and this team for many years to come on what is to come, but romance only gets you so far,” said Fox analyst Alexi Lalas. “America wants to win. America wants its soccer teams to win.”

“Sure, Jesse, whatever he’s drinking in the morning, I want some of that, “CBS Sports’ Troy Deeney said. “… To say you’d prefer to be Canada than to be Morocco is quite possibly one of the most stupid things I’ve heard.

“When you try to sell me poo in a bag and tell me it’s chocolate, I know the difference.”

At his post-game press conference, Marsch also added that he felt Canada was the “better” side on the day, which, again, included a 3-0 loss.

Marsch has been accused of making performative speeches for the cameras, something he said he didn’t “give a sh*t about.” And he caught flak earlier in the tournament for saying that, unlike the USMNT, the Canadian team sings the national anthem, implying they were more patriotic. Fox analyst and former USMNT player Clint Dempsey didn’t take kindly to that.

Again, on paper, you want to see a head coach stand by their team in moments of failure and frustration, but Marsch’s whole thing ended up rubbing a lot of people the wrong way, undercutting the value of what he was trying to say and making it more about him than the team.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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