Osorio, Shaffelburg out as Canada visits Guatemala Friday

Midfielders Jonathan Osorio and Jacob Shaffelburg will miss Canada’s CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Guatemala after picking up injuries in the final week of the Major League Soccer regular season, Canada Soccer announced Monday.

The first leg kicks off Friday, Nov. 13, at 9 p.m. ET (7 p.m. MT) at Estadio Manuel Felipe Carrera in Guatemala City. The match airs in Canada on TSN, RDS and OneSoccer, according to MLSSoccer.com. The second leg is Monday, Nov. 16, at BMO Field in Toronto.

Defender Zorhan Bassong and forwards Charles-Andreas Brym and Theo Corbeanu were added to the roster, The Canadian Press reported. Injury details were not provided for Osorio, who played 89 minutes in Toronto FC’s 4-1 season-ending loss at Philadelphia on Saturday. He missed time earlier this MLS season with a knee injury. Shaffelburg left Los Angeles FC’s 2-1 loss to Seattle on Saturday in the 79th minute after a hard tackle.

Osorio has 10 goals in 92 appearances for the men’s national team. Shaffelburg has eight goals in 39 games. Both were named to the squad when Canada announced its roster last Tuesday, a squad we reported on when Alphonso Davies was called back in.

Davies, the captain, is expected to play in the series, The Canadian Press reported. He played limited minutes in one game at this summer’s World Cup while recovering from a hamstring injury, then missed the three friendlies in late September and early October.

The squad was already thin before Monday’s changes. Swansea City midfielder Stephen Eustaquio, Southampton striker Cyle Larin, Marseille centre back Derek Cornelius, Middlesbrough centre back Alfie Jones and Celtic right back Alistair Johnston are all out. Vancouver Whitecaps centre back Ralph Priso is in camp after the Whitecaps’ 2-0 win at CF Montreal to end their regular season.

Osorio and Corbeanu are teammates at Toronto FC, whose season ended without a playoff berth. Their absence from the first leg matters most for a Canadian side that will have limited midfield options in Guatemala City.

Canada is ranked 27th in the world and Guatemala 95th. Guatemala is making its first Nations League quarterfinal appearance and knocked Canada out of the 2025 Gold Cup on penalties in the quarterfinals. The winner of the two-leg series reaches the Nations League Finals in Los Angeles in March 2027 and qualifies for the 2027 Gold Cup.

Canada Soccer will honour former national-team midfielder Julian de Guzman at halftime in Toronto in recognition of his induction into the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame. De Guzman made 89 international appearances from 2002 to 2016 and was named MVP of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Via The Canadian Press on TSN and MLSSoccer.com.

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