Canadian Players Who Stood Out at Copa America

While Mexico and the United States floundered, Canada excelled at the recent Copa America tournament. Despite failing to seal the deal in the third-place match, the Canadians were undoubtedly the best CONCACAF team in the tournament and left a lasting impression. During the tournament, fans began to explore the best betting sites in Canada because of the strong belief in the team among the fanbase. 

 

While it was surely a team effort, there’s no question that some individual players stood out more than others. Soccer fans around the world already know about Alphonso Davies, but let’s look at some other Canadian players who helped their stock and name recognition during Copa America.

 

Maxime Crépeau

 

Canada’s goalie was arguably the keeper in the tournament, although Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez rightly took home those honors. Nevertheless, Crépeau made big saves in every match and was perhaps the biggest reason the Canadians advanced past Venezuela in the quarterfinals. For MLS fans, his performance wasn’t a surprise, as Crépeau is just two years removed from helping Los Angeles FC to the MLS Cup. At age 30, Crépeau should have several good years with the Canadian National Team ahead of him and could receive interest from European clubs at some point.

 

Moise Bombito

 

As a young center back, Bombito raised his stock as much as anyone at Copa America. The Colorado Rapids player helped to anchor the backline of the Canadian defense and posted some of the most impressive numbers of any defensive player in the tournament. At the international level, he’s surely a building block for Canada ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Meanwhile, notable European sides have already started to look closely at Bombito, perhaps giving the Canadians another European-based player in the near future.

 

Jacob Shaffelburg

 

At first glance, Shaffelburg doesn’t necessarily pass the eye test. He’s not the biggest or strongest player on the pitch. But there is no question that Shaffelburg left his mark at Copa America. He scored Canada’s only goal in the quarterfinals against Venezuela while his pace gave Argentina trouble at times during the semifinals. At age 24, Shaffelburg still has an opportunity to do great things at both club level and internationally. At Copa America, he showed that he’s a player that Canada’s opponents need to know about.

 

Jonathan David

 

David is already a known commodity in soccer circles. He’s been playing his club soccer in Europe for several years and was a part of the Lille team that won Ligue 1 in 2021. At Copa America, it was clear that David was Canada’s biggest goal-scoring threat. His goal against Chile gave the Canadians three points that were critical to advancing to the Knockout Stage. Even before Copa America, there was talk of big European clubs having an interest in David. He certainly helped his stock during the summer tournament, further proving that he can perform on a big stage.