2025 Canadian Shield Tournament – Canada vs Ukraine – Preview
After several months of preparation, the 2025 Canadian Shield Tournament will soon be underway. Four national teams will compete in this competition, where the team with the most points after two matches will be named the winner. Canada will host the tournament, with Ukraine, New Zealand, and Ivory Coast also participating.
The Canadian senior men’s national team will kick off the competition with their match against Ukraine on Saturday, June 7. Having recently finished in third place in the 2024-2025 CONCACAF Nations League, the Canadians will hope to build on this success. They will look to turn to several veteran players as they want to win this inaugural tournament. Participating in the competition will also help Canada prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as they will host several matches in world football’s most prestigious competition. In other words, there is pressure on Canada to deliver.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainians hope to have a good outing at this tournament. After missing out on League A promotion in the 2024/2025 UEFA Nations League playoffs, the Ukrainians will hope to turn their luck around in Canada. The relatively young Ukrainian national team will use this competition to gain experience at the highest level of world football, and their performances will guide them in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification process. Winning the 2025 Canadian Shield would be a confidence boost for the national team ahead of that period.
Both sides will hope to secure a victory in this match, knowing that securing three points will put them in a good position in their group. How will these two national teams fare on the opening day of the 2025 Canadian Shield Tournament?
Team news and key stats
This will be only the second time Canada and Ukraine have faced each other. Their last match was a friendly in October 2010, which ended in a 2-2 draw in Kyiv.
Canada will use the 2025 Canadian Shield Tournament in Toronto as preparation for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup. Canada is one of three co-host nations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and Toronto will host six matches.
This is Ukraine’s first visit to Canada. They will hope to secure victory during their time in Toronto.
Canada’s expected starting 11 against Ukraine:
St. Clair Laryea Waterman Cornelius Adekugbe Ahmed Choinière Koné Buchanan Oluwaseyi J. David
Ukraine’s expected starting 11 against Canada:
Lunin Tymchyk Zabarnyi Matviyenko Mykhaylichenko Kalyuzhnyi Hutsulyak Zinchenko Sudakov Tsygankov Yaremchuk
Mark Temnycky is a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and a freelance journalist covering Eurasian affairs.
Source: Mark Temnycky