HOUSTON — Luc de Fougerolles has emerged as one of the brightest young players for Canada at this year’s World Cup, but the 20-year-old defender says he still has plenty to learn as the team prepares for a round-of-16 showdown against Morocco in Houston on Saturday.
The centre back started all three of Canada’s group stage matches and also came off the bench in the round of 32 against South Africa. Despite his young age, he carries himself with the composure of a much more experienced player.
Born in London to a Canadian father and an Iranian-born English mother, De Fougerolles came up through the youth system at Fulham before heading to Belgian club Dender on loan for the 2025/26 season — his first real taste of regular senior club competition.
Now he finds himself a key piece of what many are calling the greatest Canadian soccer team ever assembled.
“I just kind of love playing in the big games, and I feel like in this tournament you have to grow up,” De Fougerolles told reporters in Houston on Thursday. “It’s tough when everything comes quickly as well, so you learn during the tournament. I’ve learned some good lessons in the group stage, especially, and in the last knockout game. And I’m ready to keep learning and growing.”
Beyond the matches themselves, De Fougerolles says recovering properly has been just as critical — particularly given the intense heat the team has dealt with in Houston this week.
“The only thing that we’ve been doing is watching the football and recovering. It’s about being ready for the next game,” he said. “I think you learn different techniques about how to get through, and also me learning from the older guys who’ve maybe been and done it before here, playing in this heat and recovering. So I’m trying to take things from them and help myself recover for the next game.”
While De Fougerolles remains under contract with Fulham, his club future is the last thing on his mind right now.
“There’s so much going on, it’s happening so quickly, it’s pretty easy to forget about club football for the moment,” he said. “And it’s what I’ve been doing. And I’m sure, after the World Cup, we’ll see what happens.”
