Jonathan Osorio Makes Canada’s World Cup Squad at 34

Jonathan Osorio is going to the World Cup. Canada named the midfielder to its squad on Friday, and he will be 34 on June 12, the day of the opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He enters the tournament as Canada’s oldest player and its active leader in appearances with 89.

Osorio and Marsch

Jesse Marsch called it "a young man’s tournament" after the squad was announced. He said that if a team goes to a tournament with too old of a team, it risks injuries and not being able to meet the standards of how good the games are. That view could have pushed Osorio out. Instead, it put his age under a sharper lens.

Osorio first played for Canada in 2013, and his selection shows the staff still sees value in a player who can steady a younger group. Canada is taking a team built for pace, but it is also taking one of its most experienced voices.

Niko Sigur and the training ground

The veteran role is not abstract. During a Canada training session, Niko Sigur yelled loudly and cursed after a drill went poorly, then Osorio spoke to him about the moment. Sigur is 22, switched from Croatia to Canada in 2024, and has played left or right full-back and midfield for Canada while at Hajduk Split in Croatia.

Osorio told The Athletic that Sigur had shown "his desire to win and how much losing affects him in training". He added, "The way you’re feeling, your emotions: they’re right," and, "It’s just channeling that. And not even that much different, but in better way that doesn’t make your teammates go: ‘Whoa’." That is the job Canada appears to want from him: keep the edge, trim the chaos.

Canada’s veteran lane

This is a different assignment from the one Osorio once carried, when he was expected to dictate games and score. He still has one of the team’s clearest tournament memories, having scored against Mexico in 2022 World Cup qualifying to help Canada earn a 1-1 draw at the Azteca. Now the ask is less about carrying attacks and more about smoothing the pressure around a younger roster.

Junior Hoilett occupied a similar guiding role for years, and Osorio is being cast in that lane as Canada prepares for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The roster move gives Marsch an older presence without abandoning the younger core he has leaned on. For Osorio, the selection also keeps him at the center of a group that may need his voice as much as his legs.