John Herdman backs more Canadian players to follow Alistair Johnston to Europe

Canadian Men's National Team head coach John Herdman has backed more of his players to secure European transfers following their 2022 World Cup campaign.

Despite exiting at the group stage without a point, Les Rouges turned plenty of heads with their excellent performance in a 1-0 loss to Belgium, while also scoring their first two goals at the tournament against Croatia and Morocco.

After years in exile, the CanMNT are playing catch-up with their regional rivals, the United States and Mexico, while also announcing themselves on the world stage at last.

Defender Alistair Johnston became the first of Canada's World Cup stars to secure a European transfer, switching CF Montreal for Scottish giants Celtic at the weekend. Meanwhile, as reported by 90min, talented midfielder Ismael Kone will be next as he also leaves Montreal, this time for Watford.

According to Herdman, this is just the start.

"I've got a feeling we've got a chance now of pushing more players to that Tier 1 level. And that's a critical step for Canada," Herdman told reporters. "We keep pushing players into those environments where they're getting Champions League, Europa League experiences."

Prior to the World Cup, most were already aware of Canada's star talents like Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David. And given their impressive performances in MLS, Johnston and Kone appeared on the radar, too.

But the tournament provided the nation with an opportunity to show off the depth of its talent, collectively and individually.

"Coming in (to Qatar) our players, many of them, were unheard of … I think a lot of our players have built credibility," said Herdman. "As a collective group, they performed well together, but there were certainly some strong individual performances through the tournament."

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