Canada is set to experience a historic moment in 2026: for the first time ever, the team will play in a World Cup on home soil. Jesse Marsch, the former coach of RB Leipzig and Leeds United, took over the team in 2024 and built a formidable squad. With Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, and other top players from Europe’s top leagues, Canada is stronger than ever before.

Coach Jesse Marsch has named three goalkeepers for the Reds: Maxime Crépeau, Dayne St. Clair, and Owen Goodman. Canada will compete as co-hosts in front of their home crowd and will face Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, and Switzerland in Group B. What makes this trio of goalkeepers unique is that, for the first time in his tenure, Marsch did not have a clear number one, but rather two equally qualified starting goalkeepers. The competition is tied, and the decision will not be made until days before the tournament.

Crépeau is 31 years old, hails from Greenfield Park, Quebec, and has a World Cup story that begins with a tragedy. In the 2022 MLS Cup Final, he broke his leg while preventing an equalizer and colliding with an opponent. He saved the game, lost his spot on the World Cup roster, and missed Canada’s first World Cup since 1986 entirely. What followed was an impressive comeback.

At the 2024 Copa América, Crépeau played every minute of every match and led Canada to the semifinals, where Argentina finally ended their run in a penalty shootout. With 30 international caps, he is Canada’s most experienced goalkeeper. His career has taken him through Montreal, Vancouver, LAFC, Portland, and, since January 2026, Orlando City. In the current MLS season, he has appeared in five games, suffering one loss and seeing limited playing time. Marsch nevertheless views him as on par with St. Clair and is letting him play 45 minutes in the preseason match against Uzbekistan to make a decision.

St. Clair is 28 years old, was born in Pickering, Ontario, and had the best season of his career in 2025: he was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year with Minnesota United, boasting the highest save percentage in the entire league, with 113 saves and ten shutouts in 30 matches. After seven years in Minnesota, he joined Inter Miami, the reigning MLS Cup champions, in January 2026. There, he initially competed with the existing squad and made 29 competitive appearances that season.

He was on the roster for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but did not play. Since then, he has emerged as Canada’s clear-cut first choice. Marsch has said he would be “tortured” to tell one of them he isn’t the number one. That speaks to the quality of both goalkeepers. For St. Clair, the World Cup on home soil is the long-awaited moment when he wants to show what he can do on the biggest stage.

Goodman is 22 years old, was born in Harold Wood, London, moved to Alliston, Ontario, at the age of five, and joined the Crystal Palace Academy in 2015. He has one of the most extraordinary stories on this roster: As a child, he played for Canadian clubs, was called up by England for the U20s, and played two games for the Three Lions—but ultimately chose Canada, his adopted home. His first senior squad call-up came in November 2025, and he has yet to make his debut.

At the club level, he has accumulated an astonishing amount of playing time in just a few years: League Two with Colchester and AFC Wimbledon, where he won the League Two Golden Glove in 2024–25 and helped Wimbledon secure promotion to League One. Since January 2026, he has been on loan at Barnsley, where he quickly established himself as a first-choice player. With zero international appearances at a World Cup—this is a story that knows no shortcuts.