Jonathan David’s World Cup brilliance exposes Juventus mistake

Analysis

Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

Accredited football journalist and editor covering the game since 2006

Canada striker Jonathan David has been one of the revelations of the 2026 World Cup, with his hat-trick in the spectacular 6-0 victory over Qatar carrying him to the top of the scoring charts alongside Lionel Messi.

It is a measure of the mental strength of the 26-year-old to have recovered from a somewhat disappointing opening match against Switzerland to come good in such spectacular fashion. But equally, it’s typical of David, who Italian paper Tuttosport described as being like a diesel engine due to his need to get warmed up before exploding to his full capacity.

Canada boss Jesse Marsch always believed in his centre-forward.

"Jonathan has scored a heck of a lot of goals, right?" Marsch said. "I know there are critics, but since I’ve coached Canada, he’s been the team leader in goals, assists, xG and every other offensive category.”

Since his move to Juventus last summer from Lille on a free transfer, the Canada international forward has been a source of some curiosity. The No.9 arrived with a big reputation to live up to after scoring 25 times for the Ligue 1 side the previous season across all competitions, including nine in 14 Champions League matches.

Adapting to life in Italy, though, has not been easy. Early on, rumours emerged that he had become isolated in the changing room, to which head coach Luciano Spalletti joked: “He put parmesan over seafood pasta in the first dinner. They're right not to invite him.”

David is close to Weston McKennie, who has offered him public support during the frequent difficult periods he has been forced to weather in Turin, where his time is already drawing to a close.

Corriere dello Sport reacted to David’s performance with surprise:

“He showed speed of execution, positional awareness, courage and precision. Everything he lacked in the season just ended with Juventus,” it wrote.

And the Italian source confirmed that despite David’s strong World Cup showing, Juventus plan to offload him.

Jonathan David: What went wrong at Juventus?

David underlined his position as Canada’s talisman against Qatar by taking his tally of international goals to 42 in 79 appearances, so what went wrong for him in Italy?

Italian sources point to a lack of aggressiveness in front of goal. In particular, a fixture against Lecce in January as cited as the confirmation that he would never succeed in Italy. Juventus delivered 36 crosses in that match, but David was unable to convert a single one.

Essentially, he has been a victim of Juve’s system. Spalletti’s setup, with Kenan Yildiz and Francisco Conceicao on the wings and Weston McKennie in the middle, requires a player who is more of a focal point. Dusan Vlahovic is poised for that role, with contract talks swiftly accelerating for the Serbia star, who will become a free agent on 30 June.

"There are strikers like [Rasmus] Hojlund who drop into midfield, you smash the ball into them, and they still make it playable," Spalletti said in January.

"That's something we don't have. David is fine for scoring goals, but when you look further, you also need someone who battles physically with the centre-back. We don't need a striker to score goals."

Although Juventus changed coach early last season, they broadly maintained a style of play that saw them play with just one centre-forward, which was flagged as a problem for David by FootballTransfers' even before he made the move.

Data analytics firm gave Juve just two stars when it came to assessing David's compatibility with their style of play. It should come as little surprise, then, that he has struggled to impress, especially with a formation that is not optimised for him.

By contrast, David shone with Canada as part of a front two when paired with Cyle Larin. The Southampton forward assumed the role of attacking pivot, with David allowed to feast of the scraps that the Qatari defence left him in the box.

Juventus have accepted that he cannot play in such a style and are, therefore, ready to sell for a fee in the region of €30 million.

It was a deal destined for failure from the start, but that’s not on David.