Canada (Commonwealth) _ Jesse Marsch, an American, was appointed as the men’s national soccer team coach of Canada, a position he will hold through the 2026 World Cup.
The 50-year-old assumes command of Canada ahead of the Copa América, which opens on June 20 with Canada taking on the reigning champion Argentina. John Herdman, who resigned last year to take over as coach of Toronto in Major League Soccer, was replaced by Marsch. Interim coach had been assistant Mauro Biello.
Canada, together with the United States and Mexico, is automatically qualified to co-host the World Cup. For the first time since 1986, Canada made it to the 2022 World Cup, although they lost to Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco.
The three MLS teams in Canada, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, according to the Canada Soccer Association, contributed money to make Marsch’s appointment possible. Following his MLS career as a player for Princeton, D.C., Chicago, and Chivas USA, Marsch worked as an assistant for Bob Bradley’s U.S. national team from 2010 to 2011 before taking over as head coach of the Montreal Impact in 2011–12.
He served as the head coach of the Leeds (2022–23), RB Leipzig (2021), Red Bull Salzburg (2019–21), and New York Red Bulls (2015–18). The head coach of the Canada men’s national team is Jesse Alan Marsch, an American professional soccer coach and former player who was born on November 8, 1973. Marsch spent 14 seasons in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a midfielder for Chivas USA, D.C. United, and the Chicago Fire garnering two caps on the US national team, four US Open Cup championships, and three league triumphs.
2010 saw Marsch end his playing career and go into coaching. He began by working as an assistant with Bob Bradley’s U.S. national team, which competed in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and advanced to the round of 16. When the Montreal Impact joined Major League Soccer in 2012, he was appointed as the team’s first head coach. Following a year-long appointment as the Princeton Tigers’ assistant coach in 2015, Marsch was appointed head coach of the New York Red Bulls, a position he held through the first part of the 2018 Major League Soccer season.
The Red Bulls took home the Supporters’ Shield in Marsch’s debut season as head coach, and he was awarded MLS Coach of the Year. Marsch is the coach with the most victories in the history of the team.
Under Ralph Rangnick, Marsch was hired as an assistant coach at German Bundesliga team RB Leipzig in 2018. The squad participated in the UEFA Europa League, finished third in the league, and finished second in the German Cup. Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga hired Marsch as his replacement for Marco Rose the following season. Under his direction, the team won both the league and the cup, and Salzburg qualified for the Champions’ League group stage for the first time in the team’s history.
For the 2021–22 campaign, he went back to RB Leipzig as club coach. In December, he left by mutual consent and joined Leeds United in February. Leeds fired him in February 2023, and in May 2024 he was named head coach of the Canadian national team.
Marsch was an All-American in 1995 while playing collegiate soccer for Princeton University, when he scored 16 goals as a striker and midfielder.
Marsch was awarded two caps by the US national team. His first occurred on November 11, 2001, when he entered as a substitute in a scoreless World Cup qualifying match away to Trinidad and Tobago; his second came on June 2, 2007, when he won 4-1 against China in a friendly match in San Jose, California.
Following Marcelo Bielsa’s resignation, Marsch was named head coach of Premier League team Leeds United on February 28, 2022, and he inked a three-year contract. After German-born David Wagner and American national Bob Bradley, he became the third American manager in the Premier League. According to the British press, Marsch would have to overcome stereotypes about American soccer coaches.
Marsch attended Jerome I. Case High School while growing up in Racine, Wisconsin. Three children total—two sons and a daughter—are raised by him and his spouse Kim. Marsch learnt German at the age of 44, and he speaks it fluently in addition to his native English.
