Buchanan, Canada had no shots and only 26 touches in Canada’s World Cup opener against Bosnia-Herzegovina last Friday, a quiet outing that left his coach urging the team to get him more involved. He is expected to look for more touches on Thursday when Canada plays Qatar.
Canada and Jesse Marsch Comments
Jesse Marsch described Tajon Buchanan as "a weapon" and said of the winger, "I think everyone who plays with him knows we’ve got to feed him, we’ve got to get him the ball, we’ve got to get him in the game." Marsch’s instruction frames Canada’s immediate tactical choice: increase service to Buchanan or rely on other attacking options. Against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Buchanan made just two crosses and was replaced after 61 minutes; Ali Ahmed played 61 minutes after replacing Tajon Buchanan.
Tajon Buchanan and La Liga
Buchanan’s club form in Spain provides the basis for Marsch’s confidence. He scored three times against Girona last fall, becoming the first Canadian to score a hat trick in La Liga, and he has seven goals in 34 La Liga games this season. Buchanan said, "I think the football, the league, suits me very well" and added, "I think I’ve been able to show that, and outside of the pitch, yeah, it’s been very good. Can’t complain, weather is amazing, food is good." He also described the food as "very different" and said he misses the home cooking of his mother or grandmother; speaking about Canadian coffee shops abroad he said, "I don’t go to Tims over there, but obviously if there was [one] in the city, I would. It’s little things like that you do miss." That club-season form is the concrete reason Canada is tasked with finding him the ball at the World Cup.
Group B and Qatar Match
What changed from club to country last Friday was measurable: no shots, two crosses, 26 touches, and an earlier-than-planned substitution. Canada is in an even Group B, and that match-day box of statistics matters because it directly affects how Canada generates offence. Marsch’s directional call that the team must "feed him" assigns a specific role to teammates: create more chances down Buchanan’s flank and increase his touches in the final third.
Buchanan’s personal timeline sharpens why this moment carries weight. Two years ago he suffered a broken leg in training at the Copa America; that injury caused him to miss Canada’s unexpected run to the semi-finals and ultimately ended his time in Italy after he had become the first Canadian man to play in Serie A with Inter Milan. Inter Milan won a championship in 2024. Those career interruptions, followed by his La Liga hat trick and seven goals this season, are the reason Marsch calls Buchanan "a weapon" and why the team faces a tactical choice now.
The immediate practical consequence for Canada is clear: if Canada increases service to Buchanan — by routing more passes into his channels, encouraging overlapping fullbacks or greater wing-play combinations — his touches should rise from the 26 he managed last Friday and give him more chances to test Qatar’s defence on Thursday. If Canada does not alter how possession is allocated, Buchanan risks another underused outing while opponents in Group B convert possession into chances.
Will Canada change its tactics to involve Tajon Buchanan more against Qatar?
