In 15 months, the U.S., Canada and Mexico will share a World Cup, the first to be hosted by an entire continent. For the time being, however, the three countries share mostly animosity, anxiety and suspicion.
Since taking office two months ago, President Trump has enacted, repealed, then reenacted a series of punishing tariffs on America’s two neighborhoods. The president has also called repeatedly for the annexation of Canada, disparaging it as the 51st state and addressing its prime minister as governor.
At the southern border, Trump has deployed about 9,000 soldiers to reinforce the nearly 17,000 Border Patrol agents already there.
That’s not likely to engender the level of trust and cooperation as the countries host the largest World Cup in history next year. And those strained relations have colored the lead-up to this week’s CONCACAF Nations League final four at SoFi Stadium, where Canada will meet Mexico and the U.S. will face Panama in Thursday’s semifinals.
The winners will meet in Sunday’s final while the losers will play in the third-place game. The U.S., competing for its first trophy under new coach Mauricio Pochettino, won the three previous tournaments, beating Mexico in the final twice and Canada once.
But this time, because of the politics, there will be national pride as well as a trophy on the line with Canadian coach Jesse Marsch, who was born in Wisconsin and both played and coached for the U.S. national team, calling Trump’s rhetoric “unsettling and frankly insulting.”
“Canada is a strong, independent nation that’s deep-rooted in decency,” he said at a news conference to hype the Nations League games. “It’s a place that values high ethics and respect, unlike the polarized, disrespectful and often now, hate-fueled climate that’s in the U.S.
“I’ve been dissatisfied with the treatment Canada has received as a nation, a people.”
The politics have already spilled over into hockey. After Canada beat the U.S. in the final of the Four Nations Face-Off last month, Canadian coach Jon Cooper said: “This one was different. This was a win for 40-plus million people.”
Marsch said he expects his team to be similarly motivated should it beat Mexico and meet the U.S. in Sunday’s final.
“I know this will fuel them,” he said.
In addition to the on-again, off-again tariffs and the militarization of the border, Trump has irritated Mexico by renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
“For me, it’s the Gulf of Mexico,” Mexican coach Javier Aguirre said in Spanish.
Born in Mexico to parents who fled repression in the Basque region in the wake of the Spanish Civil War, Aguirre said he has a soft heart for immigrants, many of whom have become a Trump target. .
“It is not easy to leave your country in search of a better life,” Aguirre said. “I identify a lot with these people who came looking for the American dream.”
“At the end of the day I believe that we are neighbors, we need each other and coexistence is the best thing there can be,” he added. “I believe that the Mexican, the grandson, the son, the great-grandson of Mexicans who have come here to seek a future has done good for this country.”
As for the tariffs and the trafficking of drugs and human cargo across the border Trump has referenced, Aguirre admits he has neither “the capacity to talk about it, nor the authority.” But he hopes those issues don’t affect the soccer.
“I wouldn’t like it because we have to distinguish spectacle, sport and politics, not mix them,” he said. “For me, this platform is not for talking about politics.”
Marsch disagrees.
“Everything now in the U.S. is so politically charged,” he said on Canadian TV. “I think most people agree. Even Americans agree and understand that Canada has been a really good friend to the United States for a long time.
“There’s mutual respect from most citizens, but you just want to see that honored by the government as well.”
Even Panama, the only team in the CONCACAF final four from outside North America, has drawn the president’s ire, with Trump last week directing the military to draw up options to increase the American troop presence in Panama with a goal of reclaiming the Panama Canal.
Panama, the country, likely won’t be able to weather the economic and military pressure if Trump follows through on his threat. But Panama, the soccer team, could beat the U.S. So could Mexico or Canada.
And if they do, the results will resonate.
“These international tournaments for Canada mean something different now,” Marsch said.
Times staff writer Eduard Cauich contributed to this story.
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