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Tajon Buchanan knows black-and-white images of his face are posted on billboards and flashing on TVs across Canada.
Bright orange rivulets of sweat streak his skin, part of Gatorade’s latest campaign ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
Living in eastern Spain, Buchanan doesn’t see the ads, but he hears about them from family and friends — and the Canadian midfielder admits he’s still getting used to the idea.
“Obviously it’s new. I more just stay to myself, so I wasn’t really big into doing all the media and marketing stuff,” he said in a video interview from his home in Villarreal, Spain.
“But once the opportunity came up, it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of those things. The biggest sporting event is coming to our country, so these things are very important.”
Buchanan, 27, has been taking advantage of a lot of new opportunities in recent years.
Hailing from Brampton, Ont., he played his collegiate soccer at Syracuse University before starting his pro career with Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution. He was transferred first to Belgium’s Club Bruge in 2022, then to Inter Milan in 2024 before landing with Villarreal CF in 2025.
Uncertainty clouded Buchanan’s initial arrival at Villarreal. He was on loan and still working his way back after breaking his leg while training with the national team for the Copa America in the summer of 2024.
“I was trying to just get back to my best level, regain my fitness levels. So it was a difficult time,” he said.
The La Liga club made the move permanent last July and Buchanan flourished this season, recording seven goals and one assist across 34 league appearances.
“Once it became permanent, I think I was able just to relax and just focus on football again and enjoy it,” he said. “And I think from day one, when I arrived here on a permanent basis, it’s been that. And the coaches have helped me so much in that way, and I think from there it’s just been flowing. And I’ve been feeling really good.”
A familiar face joined Buchanan in Spain this season in forward Tani Oluwaseyi. Villarreal acquired the 26-year-old Canadian from Minnesota United last summer after he put up team highs in both goals (10) and assists (eight).
The move bonded the two Canadians, Buchanan said.
“We became a lot closer, and that’s very good for on the field, but then definitely off the field,” he said. “To have another Canadian over here in Europe playing for such a big club, we just relate in so many different ways.”
Having a countryman in the locker room helped ease Oluwaseyi’s transition to La Liga.
“Being the only person from your part of the world and in a space can be difficult. It’s not fun at times,” he said.
“But having (Buchanan) there, who’s experienced it, who’s done the same move as I have to Europe from the MLS, and being in that locker room together definitely made things easier for us. Because we can bounce ideas off each other, we can be critical of each other, and overall just have a good time with each other.”
This week, the Canadian duo are in Charlotte, N.C., with the national team for a pre-World Cup training camp.
Thirty-two players made the camp roster and head coach Jesse Marsch is set to narrow the group down to a 26-man World Cup roster by Friday.
For Buchanan, a standout at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the squad is full of high-level athletes.
“I think we have guys that have played in big games and in big moments, have those experiences to go out there and fight for something,” he said.
“It’s a roster that’s very deep now, probably the deepest roster that Canada has ever had. And I think it shows that at any given time anyone could play on the field and make a difference. So, I think that’s very good for the team culture, to push each player. And it’s going to be very important if we’re going to try and do something special.”
Canada’s World Cup quest begins on June 12 when the country hosts Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto.
The national team will then shift to Vancouver ahead of group-stage matchups with Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.
Playing in soccer’s biggest showcase on home soil will be a new experience for every single player on the team, Buchanan said.
“I don’t think any of us know what it’s really going to feel like until you know that moment comes,” he said ”Just having family, friends in the stadium, the biggest sporting event in the world in Toronto and in Vancouver — I don’t know what to expect.
“But I’m super excited and I can’t wait to see the country get behind us, and for us to go out there and put on a performance for the whole nation.”
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