Luc de Fougerolles, a 20-year-old on loan from Fulham playing deputy to an injured teammate, just topped FIFA's defender power rankings at the World Cup. Score: 7.4 out of 10. Ahead of Rodri. Ahead of Aymeric Laporte. Let that sit for a second.
FIFA's technical study group — assembled under Arsene Wenger and featuring names like Klinsmann, Gilberto Silva, Tobin Heath, and Pablo Zabaleta — released its group-stage findings Monday in Miami. Canada came up more than once.
A pressing system that stands up to scrutiny
Jesse Marsch's fingerprints are all over these numbers. Canada led the entire tournament in highest defensive line during the group stage, and ranked among the leaders in average ball recovery time. The study group specifically named Canada alongside the US, Ecuador, and Germany as teams with "clear plans to counter-press" — and winning teams at this tournament recovered the ball in 14.8 seconds on average, versus 18.6 for losing sides. Canada is on the right side of that gap.
Derek Cornelius also made the defender rankings, coming in ninth at 7.1. De Fougerolles, meanwhile, started all three group games and came on for Bombito — who was recovering from a broken leg — in the 59th minute of Sunday's 1-0 win over South Africa. He's not filling in quietly. He's outperforming defenders who've been on the world stage for years.
Canada also tied Switzerland and Germany with three goals from substitutes during the group stage, behind only Senegal's four. Marsch is getting production up and down the roster, not just from his starters.
Where Canada still has ground to make up
The weaknesses are real too. Nine goals from four matches sounds good until you see a 13 per cent conversion rate — 18th in the tournament, tied with five other teams. Canada ranked 27th among 48 teams in goals scored versus expected goals. The chances are there. The finishing isn't always following.
With 10 goals apiece, the Netherlands, Germany, and France are all ahead of Canada's nine in overall tournament scoring. A round-of-16 meeting with Brazil will test everything Marsch has built — the press, the defensive line, the bench depth, all of it. Against Vinicius Junior (7.9 in FIFA's attacking rankings) and a side that knows exactly how to punish high lines, there's nowhere to hide.
Still, the technical study group doesn't hand out compliments to make friends. Canada earned this attention on the pitch.
