Canada is automatically included as co-host of the 2026 World Cup. Three years before the peak, however, Canada’s national team coach resigns in order to be able to coach Toronto FC.
John Herdman has resigned as coach of Canada’s national soccer team, the association said. Instead of leading the selection for the home World Cup in 2026, the 48-year-old will take over Toronto FC in Major League Soccer from October 1.
Herdman had become the men’s team’s head coach in 2018 after previously coaching Canada’s women’s soccer team for seven years. As co-hosts, the Canadians with Bayern professional Alphonso Davies, like the USA and Mexico, are automatically qualified for the 2026 World Cup, in which the field of participants will be increased from 32 to 48 nations.
In June, Herdman had demanded an increase in financial resources from the domestic association with a view to the 2026 World Cup. “We have to find a financial solution. We brought a World Cup to our country but we’re not serious about winning it,” he said after the 2-0 CONCACAF Nations League final defeat by USA.
Herdman had led the men’s team to a World Cup in 2022 for the first time since 1986, but Canada lost all three preliminary round matches at the tournament in Qatar. “The goal has always been to leave football in a better state and I think that goal has been achieved for Canada,” Herdman was quoted as saying in the statement. His previous assistant coach, Mauro Biello, is taking over the national team on an interim basis.