Maxime Crépeau back at his best for Canada ahead of World Cup

One of the more interesting and important positional battles going on within the Canadian men's team ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is at the goalkeeper spot.

Maxime Crépeau (27 caps) played a starring role for Canada when it reached the semifinals of last summer's Copa América in its tournament debut. But he’s dealt with injuries since then and he hasn’t been a regular starter for the Portland Timbers in MLS this season.  

Dayne St. Clair (16 caps) has less international experience than Crépeau, but he’s started more games for Canada since the Copa América, including at this summer's Gold Cup. He's also among the MLS leaders in shutouts (10) this season with Minnesota United.  

Both goalkeepers each started a game for Canada during September's international window. Crépeau made a pair of saves in earning his ninth international clean sheet in a 3-0 win over Romania in Bucharest. St. Clair made three saves in a 1-0 win against Wales in Swansea, his seventh shutout for Canada.

Canada plays Australia in Montreal on Friday and Colombia next Tuesday in New Jersey, so it'll be interesting to see if coach Jesse Marsch takes a similar approach with his goalkeepers this month. Marsch has made it clear that the starter’s job for the World Cup is still up for grabs, and that how Crépeau and St. Clair perform in the coming months will inform one of the toughest decisions he has to make.

In this one-on-one interview with TFC Republic, Crépeau discusses his battle with St. Clair to become Canada's starter next summer on home soil, coming back from a broken leg that ruled him out of the 2022 World Cup, and much more.