The Canadians enter the competition with unique expectations, signaling a major shift for a program long overshadowed by regional powers.
They have won the tournament twice (1985 and 2000) and placed third in 2002 but have only made the semifinals twice since then.
“A little underdog Canada now,” Lalas said on his State of the Union podcast.
“Now you can't have it both ways, Jesse. I love the fact that Jesse has been big, bold and arrogant - and now you can't go the opposite way.
“Now he's absolutely right that at some point they're going to have to back up the big talk that they have been giving now on a consistent basis.
“And he's got himself a very, very good team. I think it's completely fair to talk about them as being favorites - and certainly better than this current U.S. team.
“And you can make an argument better than Mexico. So I think that they are getting, well, a little worried maybe about the expectations. But they've created this situation and I'm here for it. I love the fact that they have."