Canada off to strong start on road to Qatar
Canada head coach John Herdman was eyeing seven points from the first three games of the 2022 FIFA World Cup final qualifying round, but had to settle for five.
Considering the circumstances, a win and two draws is a good start for a team who has not qualified for a men’s World Cup since its only appearance in 1986 in Mexico, and not competed in the final round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying since 1998.
“There has been growth,” Herdman said following the 3-0 victory against El Salvador at BMO Field on Wednesday. “If we get into the first day of training and you bring in guys that haven’t played together, some of them for eight or nine weeks, and you only have two sessions to bring them together; one thing that’s clear is that the foundation of trust and the culture is strong and we will bounce back from tough moments.
“I think that’s something that doesn’t change. When we reconnect we set the values and created a new code of assurances for this 14-game campaign; leaders presented that and that’s our foundation. Players are dialled in and are ready to fight for each other.”
Canada is fielding the most talented men’s squad in its history looking to qualify for Qatar 2022. The team has already navigated through various obstacles and have made the most of good fortune along the way.
Originally, the final round of Concacaf qualifying was to consist of the top-six ranked teams in the North and Central American, and Caribbean region, with the rest of the countries battling among themselves for a half berth into Qatar to be contested against another federation.
It was a ridiculously unfair system where ranking points would be used to determine who would contend for Concacaf’s three guaranteed spots into the World Cup.
It was a system which would practically guarantee Mexico and the United States participation in the global tournament — Concacaf’s biggest money-makers. Having the United States miss out on the 2018 World Cup in Russia was an unmitigated disaster for the region.
Concacaf’s best-laid plans, however, were derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The postponement of games around the world for a few months forced a change in the method of qualifying, expanding the final group to eight and giving every country in the region an opportunity to play its way in.
With its talented roster, Canada took advantage of the change and waltz its way through small Caribbean countries to earn a spot at the main table.
Yet, while the preliminary qualifying games weren’t particularly challenging for Canada, having absolutely zero margin for error did generate some anxiety.
Now among the best in the region, Canada has proven it belongs.
After an understandable nervous start in its first game at home against Honduras, Canada has looked impressive in holding the United States to a draw in Nashville, and posting an convincing win against El Salvador despite missing its best player in Alphonso Davies, who was out injured.
“We’re content. We wanted (at least) seven points or even nine; nine would have been the perfect start (three wins),” Herdman said. “What we’ve learned is that this in Concacaf, and we had to have that Honduras learning in the first 45 minutes to feel the intensity when these teams are putting everything on the line.
“You can feel it, no one is going to lay down or back down at any moment. So that was a great experience for us and we needed it.”
The first three games have Canada in a three-way tie for second place with the United States and Panama, two points back of Mexico. They are followed by Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador, who each have two points and Jamaica is last with one point from its first three games.
There is still a lot of soccer to be played with the next FIFA international window taking place in October, as Canada travels to face Mexico and Jamaica before returning home to host Panama. Concacaf qualifying continues through March 2022.
The World Cup in Qatar runs from November to December 2022.
“I think this win (against El Salvador) puts us in a good position, because ending up with a win is always good and it gives us confidence,” Canada striker Jonathan David said. “We would have preferred to have more points right now, but this is the situation, and we have to take the confidence from this game and bring it to the next games.”
Canada is looking to build as it continue through qualifying, picking up support along the way. It’s been a long time since Canadian men’s soccer fans have been able to go along on a journey such as this one.
“All in all, we’re happy with where we’re at, we feel like we’re in a good place,” veteran midfielder Atiba Hutchinson said. “But it’s early on right now and we just want to continue to build off of this, the momentum that we have; keep winning games because we feel we deserve it, and we’re a good enough team to be winning consistently. The more games we win, the more interest that there is and the more people that start backing us.”