Jesse Marsch welcomed Switzerland to Canada with his usual blunt style.
“We’re happy to have you here,” Canada’s fiery coach said Tuesday, “but we want to beat you tomorrow.”
Marsch has already led Canada to its first World Cup win, and he’s hoping for more — including another game on home soil for the Canadians. That’s what they would get in the knockout stage if they beat the Swiss on Wednesday.
“We want to go for the win, obviously, and we’re going to be doing everything in our power to do that,” forward Liam Millar said.
Marsch, an American, stands as a stark contrast to the polite reputation Canadians have around the world. Among his moments of exuberance: a side-shuffling, arm-chopping celebration during Canada’s 6-0 win over Qatar.
“Big moments don’t come so easy, and you have to appreciate them and you have to celebrate them,” Marsch said.
He’s also shown a temper. After Canada’s Ismael Kone had his leg broken against Qatar, Marsch and Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui had a heated exchange that ended with Marsch throwing up his hands and walking away.
Marsch served a two-game ban for arguing with a referee at a Nations League third-place match against the United States in April 2025, forcing him to miss Canada’s opening matches in the Gold Cup.
In news conferences, Marsch speaks his mind.
“The one thing you get kind of with me is I kind of just answer questions with what I think,” Marsch said before the Qatar game. “That’s not normal. I understand that in this business a lot of people watch their words a lot more carefully.”
Born in Wisconsin, Marsch spent 14 seasons playing in Major League Soccer. He took his first coaching job in 2010 as an assistant for the U.S. team.
He got his first head coaching job leading the expansion Montreal Impact in MLS. He then led the New York Red Bulls and teams in Austria, Germany before coaching Leeds United of the Premier League.
His name has come up as a candidate when the U.S. — for which he made two appearances as a player — is searching for a coach. Instead, he took the Canada job in 2024, becoming the first American to coach Les Rouges.
Now he has Canada on the cusp of making its first World Cup knockout stage.
“I feel like when my coach is a real person, has real emotions, that always can help the group out,” Millar said.
Marsch has been an evangelist for soccer to a country where hockey reigns.
“I felt strongly that I could, through my personality, and through the football that I believe in, help continue to evolve the sport in the country to become something that people would really want to be a part of,” Marsch said. “We want to make this a footballing nation, a soccer nation.”
Reporting by the Associated Press.
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