Canada plays its first home match of the 2026 World Cup against Bosnia and Herzegovina Friday afternoon. Former Revolution star Tajon Buchanan will make his second World Cup appearance for Canada.
Buchanan was a great player in New England from 2019-2021. His speed made him a tough matchup for defenders and helped lead the Revolution to the best record in Major League Soccer in 2021. Buchanan had 13 combined goals and assists at just 21-years-old.
Since then, Buchanan has gone on to play for clubs in Belgium, Italy and Spain. He had a breakout year for Villareal in La Liga this past season, scoring seven goals in twenty-one starts.
“He did extremely well here and just blossom. We sold him to Club Brugge and then he continued to move on,” Revolution Sporting Director Curt Onalfo said. He’s a great player for the Canadian National Team and an exciting player to watch. He keeps getting better so really excited to see how he does.”
Onalfo says the winger has “superior athleticism” and is very quick. The Revs drafted Buchanan 9th overall in the 2019 MLS Draft. One of his former teammates, Andrew Farrell, is not surprised to see how important Buchanan has become to his club and country.
“We all saw the raw talent, the physicality, the physical attributes he had,” Farrell said. “Every time he beat the guy one time in a game it was over. We knew feed the ball to Tajon. Once he like beat the first guy one time, he knew he could beat him every time.”
Farrell was a veteran starting defender when Buchanan was young and making a name for himself. Farrell is eager to see what Buchanan will do for Canada this summer.
“Amazingly talented player who’s done it in so many different leagues at a high level and with the national team. I’m sure he’s so pumped to be able to play in front of his whole friends and family,” Farrell said. “Canada has a really good team. They’ve given the USA a run for their money in this side of the World Cup qualifiers. I think they have a really good team.”
On the other side, Bosnia and Herzegovina will showcase a young, confident player Esmir Bajraktarevic. He was born in Wisconsin but decided to join Bosnia in order to play more minutes. At just 21-years-old, Esmir hit the game-winning penalty kick to eliminate Italy from World Cup contention back in March. The goal sent Bosnia to the country’s second-ever World Cup appearance.
The midfielder was signed into the Revolution Academy at 15-years-old. He spent four seasons in New England before he was sold to a Dutch club.
Revolution Captain Carles Gil knows what makes a good midfielder.
“Amazing talent. He was very young here with us. He improved a lot, and now he’s doing very good in Europe,” Gil said. “It’s a guy who has a big personality. He likes the big challenge, so he feels good in this type of moments of games.”
Onalfo says it’s awesome to see Esmir in big moments for a national team.
“I’m very proud of him. He was very ballsy. He was on a pathway to potentially be on the U.S. team, and he chose to go to Bosnia. Sure enough he ends up being the deciding factor to play in a World Cup here in the U.S. This is an incredible story,” Onalfo said.
Onalfo says he has exceptional skill.
“I’ve been doing this my whole life and guys like him play at the highest level. They play on the national teams, and I’ve been around those players and he has all those qualities,” Onalfo said. “You have to have exceptional ball handling skills and that’s what he has. But he’s also got a major edge. When you combine that mentality and that edge with that exceptional talent, amazing things happen.”
Buchanan and Esmir are both going to play attacking roles in the midfield. During the game, we could see the two making chances or even scoring for their countries. For Farrell, it’s cool to see former teammates on soccer’s biggest stage.
“It’s so cool to see like former players you train with and play with being at high stages,” he said. “It’s cool seeing these moments for these guys who we shared a locker room with for a couple years.”
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