Oluwaseyi, Saliba “set the tone” for Canada in Gold Cup opener | OneFootball

By Ben Steiner

VANCOUVER – No question about it, the Canadian men’s national team mean business at the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.

On Tuesday night, they got off to an emphatic start, thrashing Honduras 6–0 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s BC Place, the same stadium where the CanMNT could play up to four games at the FIFA World Cup 2026.

“That was a total team effort. I can't look at one guy and find someone who had an off game; everybody came out with the right mentality,” said assistant coach Mauro Biello, filling in for suspended head coach Jesse Marsch. “We played within our identity and were able to not give them much and score goals.

“That’s who we want to be. The first game always sets the tone for the tournament... and I think that sets us up well.”

The CanMNT were unrelenting, with Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi and CF Montréal’s Nathan Saliba scoring alongside Niko Sigur, Promise David and a brace from former New England Revolution standout, Tajon Buchanan.

While Tuesday marks the beginning of what Les Rouges hope will see the end of a 25-year trophy drought, it sets a new standard.

“It’s always important in the tournament to get off to a good start, and I think we did that very well,” star striker Jonathan David said. “With the World Cup coming next year, there’s a lot of guys that seem so motivated.”

Tani Time

With five strikers in the squad, Canada have plenty of options up front. Yet, Oluwaseyi started alongside Jonathan David against Honduras and embraced the opportunity.

While his speed has powered his form to 8g/4a in Minnesota United’s counter-attacking, low-possession system, Oluwaseyi swiftly adapted to Canada’s controlling style and netted his second national team goal, smashing a shot past Edrick Menjivar from a tight angle.

“I’ve gotten to know what the national team requires, so that's always in the back of my mind,” he told reporters post-match.

“Even in Minnesota, in the moments where I do have the ball, I’m just trying to keep the touches clean, trying to do the things that I know that I'll have to do, so every time I come here, I don't have to adjust.”

With the level of competition among Canada’s strikers — and the 13 different goal scorers on the last 14 goals — a standout performance holds great significance with less than a year to go until the World Cup.

“Tani does the dirty work, and he's always working hard, pressing and running. Today he made some very good runs, kept a lot of balls for us, and was rewarded for that,” Jonathan David said of playing alongside the Minnesota standout.

“He's just more of a physical presence. He's so, so tall and strong that it's hard to even get the ball off him... it makes my job easy.”

The Québec midfield

In midfield, a pair of current and former CF Montréal stars, Saliba and Mathieu Choiniére, stood out, forming a new-look double pivot, with key midfielder Stephen Eustáquio away at the FIFA Club World Cup with FC Porto.

Choiniére took set pieces and created opportunities from curling free kicks from the top of the box and corners. At the same time, Saliba’s swift turns powered Canada’s ability to widen the play, before he capped the win with an audacious goal.

“They were so aggressive,” Biello said. “They didn't give Honduras any type of opportunity to go forward. Nathan did well, and then he scored a cracker of a goal. I'm happy for them. They work hard every day at training, and now they're able to show what they're capable of doing in games like that.”

For Saliba, it was a first national team goal, and it came on a night where he had 65 touches, nine passes into the final third, and created two chances. Meanwhile, Choiniére, who recently became a father, created four chances in one of his best performances in a Canada kit.

Looking Ahead

The vibes were already high for Canada this summer heading into the tournament at an all-time best No. 30 in the FIFA World Ranking, and their second-highest Gold Cup result ever only builds their confidence.

While they already knew the qualities of several of their star players, seeing Buchanan’s return to form and the breakout play of young stars in Sigur and Saliba makes them even more confident.

Now, they look ahead to remaining Group B matches against Curaçao (June 21) and El Salvador (June 24) at Houston Dynamo FC’s Shell Energy Stadium, before taking on what they hope to be a legacy-building knockout round.

“These are always really fun games to play in, and it's not always going to be like this, so it's always important to enjoy it when it happens,” Oluwaseyi said.

“We came into the tournament with a lot of confidence, and this helps it, but I think if we won or lost today, our confidence is always very high.”