FORT LAUDERDALE — There was good news Monday for Canada coach Jesse Marsch, at camp in Florida and far away in Germany.
English-born centre back Alfie Jones has taken his citizenship oath and will make his debut for 28th-ranked Canada on Tuesday against No. 50 Venezuela in a friendly at Chase Stadium. Marsch said Jones, who plays his club football for Middlesbrough in England’s second tier, will start — as will goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau.
Some 8,000 kilometres away, captain Alphonso Davies returned to training with Bayern Munich for the first time since injuring his knee in March. Bayern reported that Davies spent some 30 minutes on the pitch, taking part in some of the drills.
The 28-year-old Jones, who is eligible to play for Canada through his Alberta-born grandmother, had hoped to take the oath last week in Toronto so he could take part in Thursday’s game with No. 23 Ecuador. But it didn’t happen, and he had to watch the scoreless draw as a spectator at BMO Field.
In other personnel moves, Nashville winger Jacob Shaffelburg has been called in to replace forward Cyle Larin, who has been nursing a minor hamstring injury. Veteran Junior Hoilett is also questionable after picking up a knock.
Winger Ali Ahmed, unable to play Tuesday after being sent off against Ecuador, has returned to the Vancouver Whitecaps ahead of Saturday’s Western Conference semifinal against Los Angeles FC.
Venezuela failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup after finishing eighth in the 10-team South American qualifying competition at 4-8-6. The top six teams — Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay — qualified for the 48-team World Cup while No. 7 Bolivia advances to an Intercontinental playoff.
The qualifying failure cost Venezuela coach Fernando Batista his job after 20 months at the helm. Venezuela is 3-6-0 this year.
Venezuela, under interim coach Fernando Aristeguieta, is coming off a 1-0 win over Australia on Friday in Houston, snapping a four-game losing streak.
“They have some real quality in the way that they play with the ball and some of their rotations and ideas of how they try to unbalance teams,” Marsch told a news conference Monday at Chase Stadium. “And they have some explosive players up front.”
“It’ll be a good challenge for us,” he added. “I think it will be spirited, much the way it was at Copa America … We respect them. They’re in a new phase with their team where they know they need to start to build towards the next World Cup and next Copa America.”
Canada defeated Venezuela in a penalty shootout, following a 1-1 draw, the last time they met in quarterfinal action at the 2024 Copa America.
The previous two meetings ended in draws in Venezuela — 1-1 in May 2010 in Merida and 2-2 in June 2007 in Maracaibo.
Canada goes into Tuesday’s game with a 6-2-5 record in 2025 with two of those draws turning into penalty shootout losses (against the Ivory Coast at the Canadian Shield Tournament and Guatemala in the Gold Cup quarterfinal).
The Canadians have outscored their opposition 20-8 so far this year, with 13 of those goals coming in wins over Honduras (6-0), Ukraine (4-0) and Romania (3-0).
Goals have been an issue of late, with Marsch’s team held scoreless the last 319 minutes since a Derek Cornelius goal in a 1-0 win over Wales on Sept. 9
While Canada failed to score in five matches this year and managed just one goal in three other outings, Marsch is unfazed.
“We know we’ve got some real firepower up front, and speed and athleticism. And we’re also making improvements on our set pieces and we’re creating chances,” said Marsch, who confirmed that he plans to hold a camp in January.
On the plus side, Canada has conceded just one goal in its last five outings.
Canada’s 13 opponents this year have come from five CONCACAF nations, three in Europe, three in South America, and one each in Africa and Asia.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2025
The Canadian Press
