Jesse Marsch was rumored to be a candidate for the U.S. men’s national soccer team when Gregg Berhalter’s contract expired after the 2022 World Cup.
Instead, the United States controversially rehired Berhalter and Marsch landed the job as the head coach for Canada.
From there, the fortunes of both programs diverged.
Marsch had led the Canadians into the quarterfinals against Venezuela in the 2024 Copa América. Meanwhile, Berhalter is facing more questions about his job after the Americans were eliminated from the group stage for the first time in five appearances.
Marsch is taking no glee in the failures of the United States despite being passed up to coach the team and now being in charge of a rival team.
“Because I’m not there every day, I don’t have my finger on the pulse of exactly what’s going on, but certainly it’s not what we expected coming into this tournament.”
Nonetheless, everything worked out for Marsch with Canada.
The Canadians placed second in Group A behind 2022 World Cup champions and tournament favorite Argentina. Canada finished ahead of South American powers Peru, and Chile.
Marsch’s prowess as a player helps him relate to today’s athletes.
He is a former U.S. international and played 14 seasons as a midfielder for three Major League Soccer teams, winning the U.S. Open Cup four times, three MLS Cup titles, and the Supporters Shield once.
He parlayed that solid playing career into a successful career as a coach that began in 2010 as an assistant on Bob Bradley’s United States men’s National Team staff. That team reached the last 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Marsch started his relationship with Canadian soccer in 2012 when he was named the inaugural manager of the Montreal Impact, now called CF Montréal.
In 2015, he assumed the head coaching role at New York Red Bulls and led the club to the MLS Supporters’ Shield with a club record 18 league victories. Marsch was named the MLS Coach of the Year. Marsch remains the New York Red Bulls’ most successful manager in their history with 76 victories.
In 2018, Marsch left New York to join RB Leipzig in Germany’s Bundesliga as an assistant manager to Ralph Rangnick.
From 2019 to 2021, Marsch was manager of FC Red Bull Salzburg of the Austrian Bundesliga. He led the club to a league and cup double in both of his seasons in charge as manager. This made him the first American head coach to win a top-flight league title in Europe. The league championships brought UEFA Champions League qualification.
Marsch rejoined RB Leipzig in 2021 as the manager and guided them to the UEFA Champions League through the playoff round. Leipzig finished third in their group, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League knockout stages.
He joined Leeds United in England’s Premier League in February 2022, and he guided them to safety from relegation in the 2022–2023 season with a final-day win at Brentford. Leeds became the only club to escape relegation when entering the season’s final day in the league’s bottom three teams.
He then oversaw Leeds’s summer 2022 transfer window, where club record transfer sales were achieved. Marsch was let go after the club sat in 12th in the Premier League.
Overall, Marsch has coached 339 matches, compiling a 170–66–103 record across his managerial career, and was named the 20th head coach in Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team history in May. His contract runs through the end of July 2026 for the World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Marsch already has guided Canada to a successful showing in the 2024 Copa América despite getting the job just two months ago.
The Canadians, however, will need more scoring to continue their tournament. Jonathan David has scored Canada’s only goal in the Copa América, which is the fewest among teams that advanced. In addition, the Canadians will be without winger Tajon Buchanan, who suffered a broken tibia in training following a tie with Chile.
Nonetheless, Marsch is happy to be leading Canada and the team is gaining more momentum as the players prepare for the upcoming World Cup.
“I’ll tell you: I’m glad I’m here, man, because the people that I work with, the players that I work with, the things that we know that we can achieve together, the support we have from inside the country, the support system for this entire national team is so positive,” Marsch told Fox Soccer. “So I think it gives us a real chance to develop something and build something and then be ready for a big tournament come 2026.”
