How the English Championship Has Become World Cup Boot Camp for Canada, USMNT Stars

TORONTO—Liam Millar can’t help but chuckle.

Sitting in a Toronto hotel during Canada’s penultimate World Cup preparation camp, while teammate Moïse Bombito plays piano in the background, the Hull City winger lets his mind linger on the level below England’s famed Premier League.

“The Championship is one of a kind,” Millar says, after a long pause. “It's a league where, genuinely, you don't need to play good soccer. You just need to know how to win, and I think we’ve figured that out exceptionally at Hull City.”

At 26, Millar is already a veteran of the English game. A former Liverpool prospect, he forayed to Switzerland with FC Basel before finding his footing in the English professional ranks, first in League One with Charlton Athletic, then the Championship with Preston North End and now Hull.

Liam Millar’s long road back takes us to this moment, tonight!

Le long parcours de Liam Millar nous mène à ce moment, ce soir !#CANMNT pic.twitter.com/M5bbmrOODz
— CANMNT (@CANMNT_Official) October 10, 2025

Opportunities for Canada, USMNT Stars

Cyle Larin, Daryl Dike — Cyle Larin (right) and Daryl Dike (left) are two of the newer North Americans in the English Championship. | Stuart Leggett/MI News/NurPhoto/Getty Images

While Millar has been in England for nearly his entire professional career, the Championship has only grown in the eyes of North American players in the lead up to the 2026 World Cup.

Prior to the 2025–26 season, U.S. men’s national team strikers Patrick Agyemang, Haji Wright and Daryl Dike had all found a home in the league. In the winter transfer window, out-of-form Canadian striker Cyle Larin and standout MLS winger Ali Ahmed also made their way over.

In total, six Canadians and seven Americans are actively suiting up in the gruelling English second tier. Five, including Milar, Ahmed, Larin, Agyemang, and Middlesbrough midfielder Aidan Morris, are in the March international camps in the lead up to the 2026 World Cup.

“You don't always have to outperform the other team,” Millar says. “Playing the Championship, it's tough, it's challenging, it's not easy ... Ali and Cyle are there now; they're both doing very well, but the longer it goes on, the harder it gets.”

How the Championship Stacks Up

Canada’s Ali Ahmed has enjoyed a stellar start to life with Norwich City in the Championship. | hristopher Morris/ISI Photos/Getty Images

But what is it about the Championship that has attracted the North Americans, all of whom see themselves with legitimate shots at a World Cup debut this summer?

On the surface, it’s simply one of the world’s strongest leagues; however, dig deeper, and the physicality, its similarities to MLS and the allure of the Premier League spark intrigue.

Opta’s League Power Rankings assess the sport’s global hierarchy. In November, it ranked the Championship 10th in the Top 30 leagues based on “advanced performance metrics,” higher than the Dutch Eredivisie, the Turkish Super Lïg and MLS.

Ahmed, who scored in Vancouver Whitecaps’ 2025 MLS Cup loss to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, calls the new league “brutal” and “cutthroat,” having joined Norwich City in a fight to avoid League One relegation.

“We might not play well all the time, but we’re learning how to win, and in the end, that’s really what matters in the Championship,” he said, having scored on his debut, now with four goals and three assists across his first 15 appearances with the Canaries.

“It’s a different challenge, but I’m definitely enjoying a new league, and the pace of play and physicality is a perfect step for me to try to take the next level and also get ready for the World Cup.”

The Growth Environment for Strikers

Patrick Agyemang has evolved as a USMNT striker option in the English Championship. | John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images

While Millar and Ahmed have taken the league on with hopes of starting on Canada’s left side at the World Cup, likely in front of FC Bayern Munich left back Alphonso Davies, the Championship offers more obvious stardom for strikers.

After a standout spell with 17 goals and six assists in 59 MLS appearances with Charlotte FC and an impressive 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup with the USMNT, Derby County spent upwards of $8 million on Agyemang.

He has since risen in the USMNT striker pool, after 10 goals in his first 36 Derby County games, lofting the Rams into Premier League promotion playoff contention.

At the same time, Wright has 16 goals in 27 league games and is in contention for the Golden Boot with Coventry City, who is likely Premier League-bound.

Agyemang, 25, has had to make the most of his long stride and towering, 6' 4" frame in the process.

“It was just the physicality part,” Agyemang said of the adjustment. “It's very intense as well. In England, it was just very demanding.

“I've grown into the person and player I am now; it's been amazing. I feel myself building in all types of areas, on and off the field, and I think it could obviously translate here as well and help the [national] team.”

USMNT captain and Agyemang’s former Charlotte teammate, Tim Ream, says he’s seen the forward “grow up,” through the grind of the Championship as well, flourishing into a potential key option for the Stars and Stripes.

Larin Finally Finds a Fit

Cyle Larin has found his best form in years with Southampton as the Saints eye Premier League promotion. | Matt Watson/Southampton FC/Getty Images

The newest North American in the Championship, Larin has also become the latest to thrive.

Having scored the second-most all-time goals for Canada, trailing only Jonathan David, it had been several years since he was among Concacaf’s best forwards.

So, with guidance from Canada manager Jesse Marsch, Larin made his way to Southampton—and the physically imposing forward is off to a strong start, with four goals and an assist in his first 11 games.

“I’m happy to be scoring goals again,” Larin said. “I went through a difficult period in my football career... nobody always stays scoring goals, and you can have your down moments, and mine was longer.”

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin — Jonathan David (left) and Cyle Larin (right) were key pieces of Canada’s run to the 2022 World Cup. | JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

Now back in the Canada camp as a veteran, having made his international debut in 2014, he’s favored to start alongside David, the same partnership that led Canada to its first World Cup since 1986 in 2022.

“It was just about finding the right place for me, and that so far has been Southampton,” Larin said. “...When I play minutes, and I play games, I score goals.”

And now, he’s bought into not only the vision of World Cup success, but also that of which every player involved in the Championship defines himself—the idea of promotion and maybe, as soon as next season, dancing under the bright lights of the Premier League.

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