Canada coach Jesse Marsch understands why some fans may not want to travel to US for Gold Cup

Ronald Blum · The Associated Press

· Posted: May 19, 2025 4:05 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Canada manager Jesse Marsch understands immoderate of his team's supporters mightiness not privation to question to the CONCACAF Gold Cup for fearfulness of trouble astatine the U.S. border.

"I could spot trepidation for anyone looking to question to the U.S. astatine this existent governmental climate," helium said during a Zoom quality league Monday. "So it's a bittersweet thing, I think, that we person to speech astir visiting the U.S. successful this mode but I deliberation everybody has to marque decisions that are champion for them and that acceptable champion with what's going connected successful their beingness and their lifestyle."

Since President Donald Trump started his 2nd word successful January, determination person been reports of tourists being stopped astatine U.S. borderline crossings and held astatine migration detention facilities earlier being allowed to alert location astatine their ain expense. Canadian Jasmine Mooney, an histrion and entrepreneur with a U.S. enactment visa, was detained by U.S. borderline agents successful San Diego connected March 3. She was released aft 12 days' detention.

Canadian residents' instrumentality trips by aerial from the U.S. fell 20% successful April, and instrumentality trips by car were down 35%, according to Statistics Canada.

Marsch, a 51-year-old American calved successful Racine, Wisconsin, was hired arsenic Canada's manager successful May 2024 aft erstwhile stints astatine Montreal, the New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig and Leeds.

Canada is simply a co-host with the U.S. and Mexico of adjacent year's World Cup. It opens the Gold Cup, the title of North and Central America and the Caribbean, connected June 17 against Honduras astatine Vancouver, British Columbia, past plays its adjacent 2 matches successful Houston, against Curacao connected June 21 and El Salvador connected June 24.

"It would beryllium a shame if we didn't get the benignant of instrumentality enactment that I deliberation our squad deserves from our country, from our fans, due to the fact that of the governmental climate, particularly if we could execute a batch successful this tourney and get to the final, which is our goal," Marsch said. "So I'm not definite however everybody volition enactment oregon respond to what the concern is, but I surely anticipation that we person large enactment successful these meaningful matches. I cognize we volition successful Vancouver."

CONCACAF's Gold Cup volition beryllium played from June 14 to July 6 successful 14 venues, each but 1 successful the U.S.

Marsch volition not beryllium allowed to manager connected the sideline for the games against Honduras and Curacao due to the fact that of a two-game suspension by CONCACAF for his behaviour toward lucifer officials and refusal to permission the tract during a Nations League third-place crippled against the U.S. connected March 23.

Mexico has won 9 Gold Cups, including 2023. The U.S. has won seven, including 2021, and Canada won successful 2000.