Canada on Cusp of Securing Former Mexico Wonderkid Ahead of 2026 World Cup

Marcelo Flores was once touted as a potential star for Mexico, but could play his first match for Canada this week.

A big boost for Canada manager Jesse Marsch. / Alex Nicodim/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Tigres winger Marcelo Flores could be nearing a decision to represent Canada, after hopes that he would wear red and white seemed to have ended when he made his senior debut for Mexico in 2021.

Canada manager Jesse Marsch has kept in contact and regularly visited in an effort to lure the  Canadian-Mexican and English tri-national. Now in 2026, years after the previous manager, John Herdman, attempted to secure Flores, Canada looks to have landed his talents. 

“I heard a lot of things about Marcelo before I met him. When I came into this role, I really came in with an open mind to everything and everyone,” Marsch told the Vamos Network. 

“Everything that I realized when I met Marcelo was that for a young guy, he was pretty mature. And because he had some significant experiences and some challenging experiences, he was forced to mature into a lot of different things.“

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Previously representing Mexico, Flores is included as an official roster player on Canada’s January squad, with the potential to play his first minutes for his country of birth in an international friendly against Guatemala on January 17. 

Now a tenacious attacking player with 72 appearances across all competitions with Tigres, Flores played for Mexico at youth levels before committing to El Tri at the senior level, even though he was born in Canada, in Georgetown, Ontario. 

Yet he only went on to feature as a late substitute for Mexico’s senior squad in December 2021, in a friendly against Chile and again in an April 2022 friendly against Guatemala, before facing Suriname in June 2022 in the Concacaf Nations League for his competitive debut. 

Marcelo Flores has had limited opportunities with Mexico, leading to Canadian curiosity. / Alex Avila/Jam Media/Getty Images

Since his competitive debut, he has not received another call. So, when Marsch took over the Canadian program in 2024, the potential for Flores to make the switch came into focus. 

“Canada also wants me, but I think that if Mexico calls me to the 2026 World Cup, I think that's where I want to be," Flores confessed in 2025. “Right now, I don’t know, really. I’m thinking and just preparing for when I’m going to make a decision.”

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Canada Debut Looms for Flores

Marcelo Flores has been with Tigres in Liga MX since 2023. / Hugo Rivera/Jam Media/Getty Images

This week, Flores will have the opportunity to play for Canada for the first time with an eye on making the 2026 World Cup squad. Previously, he cracked the door open to the opportunity in November as a training player in Marsch’s squad, but did not commit to putting himself in a capping situation. 

Should he play against Guatemala, he would have to file a one-time international allegiance switch with FIFA, effectively tying his future to Les Rouges with hopes of playing at the 2026 World Cup on home soil and beyond.

“No decisions have been made yet, but I’m continuing to try to allow him to see that being around this Canadian group of guys and this team is really special,” added Marsch.  “He came into our November camp as a guest. I think he made a big impact, and everybody trained really well.

“This will be another opportunity, I think, for him to get to know us and us to get to know him. I’m really hopeful that we’re going to convince him to make the switch and come and be Canadian.”

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World Cup Potential After Previous Efforts

Marcelo Flores turned down a previous Canada call to stick with the Arsenal academy in 2021. / Marc Atkins/Getty Images

When Flores initially committed to Mexico, he was suiting up for Arsenal’s academy teams and had lofty expectations for his future in the European game as a teenager. The option of Canada, though, was still in mind, even with his father, Rubén Flores, having played in Mexico. 

In January 2021, Flores even accepted a Canada call-up under Herdman, before pulling out to stay with Arsenal in the thick of the European calendar.

Yet, Herdman continued to speak of Flores, including after a 2–0 win in 2022 World Cup qualifying against the U.S. men’s national team, as Canada went on to top the final stage of qualification to secure its first World Cup berth in 36 years.

“I’m sure you’ve got players like young Marcelo Flores [who] might be looking after this game and wondering whether he wants to play for Mexico or Canada,” Herdman said at the time.
This is what we’re starting to provoke across the world.”

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Now, as Flores’s career at the club level has shifted to a regular presence in Liga MX, he is well out of El Tri’s plans, and his eyes have turned to Canada, where he is slowly coming closer to committing his future.

To crack the World Cup roster as a depth piece, he will have to stand out against Guatemala and earn another opportunity in the official friendlies in March, with hopes of making it to the final World Cup preparation camp in June. To do that, he’ll have to commit defensively under Marsch’s heavy demands of wingers. 

“As much as he committed to the Mexican national team, he was still born in Canada, feels Canadian, knows a lot of the guys on the national team, and that’s still in his blood,” said Marsch. “The conversations that I have had were all really good and I really liked them. And because he didn’t lose his confidence, but it was more rooted in realism.”

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