Sporting Kansas City defender Zorhan Bassong has been selected to the Canada Men’s National Team for a friendly match against Panama on Oct. 15 at BMO Field in Toronto. The 25-year-old will join Canada’s senior national team for the first time in nearly five years, having previously earned two caps for the Reds in January 2020.
Led by first-year head coach Jesse Marsch, Canada will face Panama in a Concacaf clash slated for 6:30 p.m. CT with a live stream on OneSoccer.ca and the OneSoccer app. Bassong is the second Sporting player to receive a Canada call-up this fall after forward Stephen Afrifa made his first two national team appearances last month in friendlies against the United States and Mexico.
Before joining Canada in his hometown of Toronto, Bassong will be available for Sporting on Saturday when the club hosts LAFC on Fan Appreciation Night. Tickets for the match are available on SeatGeek with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, ESPN Kansas City 94.5 FM and 1510 AM, and La Grande 1340 AM.
Bassong is nearing the end of his first MLS season with Sporting, where he has made 23 appearances in all competitions. He played his first 17 matches for the club at left back before transitioning to a central midfield role in August. He has started in six of the team’s last eight matches across all competitions, including a 105-minute outing against LAFC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Sept. 25 in Los Angeles.
Born in Toronto and raised in Montreal, Bassong moved to Belgium in 2013 to join the Mouscron academy, where fellow Sporting left back Logan Ndenbe also competed as a youth player. Bassong furthered his development in the heralded academy systems at Belgian side Anderlecht and French club Lille, beginning his professional career at the latter in 2016.
In three years with Lille B from 2016-2019, Bassong logged 31 appearances and over 2,100 minutes. He joined Belgian outfit Cercle Brugge in January 2019 and left the club in July 2020.
Bassong enjoyed a two-year MLS stint with CF Montreal that began in early 2021. He played 26 regular season matches in his debut MLS campaign and added an assist in Montreal’s run to the 2021 Canadian Championship title, appearing in every match of the tournament. Bassong played 14 more matches in all competitions the following year—including two in the 2022 Concacaf Champions League and two in the Canadian Championship—as he helped Montreal set a club record for regular season wins (20), points (65) and goal differential (+13).
Following his time with Montreal, Bassong spent 2023 with two Romanian clubs, Arges Pitesti (10 matches) and Farul Constanta (two matches). He signed for Sporting last December.
On the international stage, Bassong represented the Belgium U-19s for two friendlies in 2017 before switching his allegiance to Canada. He played twice for the country’s senior national team in January 2020, including a 90-minute outing in a 4-1 friendly win over Barbados. In March 2021, Bassong played three matches for Canada at the 2020 Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship in Mexico, helping his team emerge from the group stage and reach the semifinals.
