Soccer in Canada | Canada Hosting the 2026 World Cup

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by goodgrowth

Pretty much agree with this though I'd probably put Panama in Tier 2.

Canada could end up 7th as much as it could end up 3rd.

Yeah, we really don't know at this stage. Suriname/Haiti were the only opponents that offered us insight into how this team might fare in the Octo. I think we should be able to handle Honduras/El Salvador/Panama but we could also just out-and-out lose to them, too. This team can draw Mexico/US and it can lose to Honduras in the same week.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by JHikka

If you son wants to watch Mbappe or Haaland these days he has to stream it on DAZN or online illegally anyway, so what's the difference with OneSoccer? I genuinely don't understand the mental hurdle that some have for going to a website or opening an app to watch something. If I want to get cable today I have to call Bell/Rogers, have a technician come, install a box, set up cable to a TV...but one streaming option for all soccer in Canada is too much?

You have just discovered the biggest downside to the streaming model... it's awesome for capturing dollars from people who are already dedicated fans, but it sucks for reaching out to new ones.

I already have a bunch of subscription services (cable TV/internet/landline phone/newspaper/magazines/streaming services like Netflix/Costco/Amazon Prime/WHL TV/Winnipeg Jets and Blue Bombers tickets)... if I keep adding subscriptions for everything that catches my eye then eventually my whole paycheque will go straight to subscription services, so I'm resistant to add any more even if it's just a few bucks. In this case I'm not invested as a fan of the CMNT so it's easy to say no.

Think about the NHL playoffs... when do you usually see the biggest upsurges in fandom? During playoff runs of course. Casual fans take the next step and become dedicated fans. It's easy to do that when the games are on CBC or at least on Sportsnet, which has pretty wide distribution. Would it be anywhere close to the same thing if you needed NHL Centre Ice to watch your home team in the playoffs? I seriously doubt it.

Anyway, I do wish Team Canada all the best at the CONCACAF qualifier finals... I'll catch the highlights on Youtube.

[AuxTown]

Sorry to be late to the convo but are they honestly not going to be televising any of the Octogonal games? That's crazy! We have a huge soccer fan base in this country who would definitely tune in to watch Team Canada battle it out for a spot on the world stage. CBC should pick up the games and promote the broadcast.....surely they would get more viewers than for the usual Heartland re-runs or Just for Laughs Gags! I'm a big proponent of CBC usually but what kind of broadcaster do we have if they can't promote such a huge national event?

[elly63]

Originally Posted by goodgrowth

Pretty much agree with this though I'd probably put Panama in Tier 2.

Canada could end up 7th as much as it could end up 3rd.

You can read my analyses of Mexico and USA in posts earlier in this thread. I think we still have a long way to improve but we are vastly better than we were when we last played those two countries and the real problem of a steady defense seems to be working itself out. Kennedy seems to have staked his claim from basically his first game. We have good bench strength and solid goalkeeping, just need some more experience.

I always thought Mexico was very ordinary outside of Azteca or playing at altitude (which is what we did the last time we played them) I think we are as good as the USA, our problem will be consistency.

I am looking for Buchanan to emerge as a difference maker and future star. Herdman doesn't back away from talent vs experience he believes if you're able to play at 16 you will play which is refreshing.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Now the fun of people arguing that games should be played outside of Toronto and Vancouver.

When TFC was drawing fans (25k) where did they go when the CMNT played there. The last big profile game was vs the USA (which was hyped) and the oft played clip of Davies scoring had a backdrop of a very empty top tier behind him.

I'm pretty sure I've followed the CMNT longer than anyone here and the only reasons I can come up with for Toronto to get games is because it has a good turf surface, it is easier to fly into, and our training setup in Alliston, otherwise Toronto has never even come close to selling out or getting an impressive crowd for a market that big.

Here's hoping the bandwagon effect will take place as it usually does there.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

We have a huge soccer fan base in this country who would definitely tune in to watch Team Canada battle it out for a spot on the world stage.

Actually concerning Canadian men's soccer we don't have a large base at all. And if the games aren't outsourced to a national broadcaster it won't get much better. Seeing as I have been following this team for damn near 50 years, I remain the eternal optimist that things will take a turn as far as getting some more exposure.

[elly63]

• Video Link

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by elly63

When TFC was drawing fans (25k) where did they go when the CMNT played there. The last big profile game was vs the USA (which was hyped) and the oft played clip of Davies scoring had a backdrop of a very empty top tier behind him.

I'm pretty sure I've followed the CMNT longer than anyone here and the only reasons I can come up with for Toronto to get games is because it has a good turf surface, it is easier to fly into, and our training setup in Alliston, otherwise Toronto has never even come close to selling out or getting an impressive crowd for a market that big.

Here's hoping the bandwagon effect will take place as it usually does there.

I think our national soccer teams would draw better in Vancouver. The women sure did.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

Sorry to be late to the convo but are they honestly not going to be televising any of the Octogonal games? That's crazy!

A few of them will be added to our traditional broadcasters eventually.

Originally Posted by AuxTown

We have a huge soccer fan base in this country who would definitely tune in to watch Team Canada battle it out for a spot on the world stage.

As elly pointed out, our fanbase isn't actually that big. Despite that we've still managed to develop world class players this development cycle.

Like the US, domestic soccer plays second fiddle to European soccer.

Originally Posted by AuxTown

CBC should pick up the games and promote the broadcast.....surely they would get more viewers than for the usual Heartland re-runs or Just for Laughs Gags!

CBC doesn't have the money to afford the broadcasts.

Originally Posted by AuxTown

I'm a big proponent of CBC usually but what kind of broadcaster do we have if they can't promote such a huge national event?

Perhaps we should fund it more.

Originally Posted by elly63

I'm pretty sure I've followed the CMNT longer than anyone here and the only reasons I can come up with for Toronto to get games is because it has a good turf surface, it is easier to fly into, and our training setup in Alliston, otherwise Toronto has never even come close to selling out or getting an impressive crowd for a market that big.

Regarding world cup qualifying matches, all of the reasons you listed are enough for Toronto to be host. WCQ games shouldn't be used to try and draw big audiences - they should be used to give our team the best chance of winning. That means making it easy to fly in to, providing good training facilities, providing a good stadium and pitch. The rest matters far less.

People love to bring up something like "we should play in Edmonton in the winter to mess with the Central American teams!!!!" but truly that would affect Canada just as much. Assuming our players grew up playing on frozen turf in -40 simply isn't accurate, and because our team depends so much on skill, throwing matches into the snow just leads to a wildcard that we can't afford to have occur when we can beat so many teams with skill.

[elly63]

Concacaf Gold Cup provisional rosters confirmed
canadasoccer.com June 18, 2021

Concacaf have confirmed the provisional rosters for the 25 nations competing in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup. The final 23-player rosters for all participating teams will be confirmed prior to the start of the Preliminary Round.

Canada have been drawn into Group B of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup where they will face USA, Martinique and a yet-to-be determined Caribbean nation across the first three matches of the competition. The 30th anniversary edition of the Concacaf Gold Cup runs 10 July to 1 August following a preliminary round from which either Haiti, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Bermuda or Barbados will advance to Group B.

Canada are one of 13 nations that have already qualified for the Group Phase of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, doing so in 2019 through Concacaf Nations League A. Joining Canada in the Group Phase are Costa Rica, Curaçao, El Salvador, Grenada, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Suriname, USA, and Asian Confederation guest nation Qatar.

From the Concacaf Gold Cup Group Stage, which commences 10 July 2021, the top-two nations from each of four groups will advance to the Knockout Stage featuring Quarterfinals, Semifinals and the Final.

The 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup Preliminary Round, which runs 2-6 July, will feature Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cuba, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Montserrat, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and either Trinidad and Tobago or Antigua and Barbuda.

Group A
Mexico
El Salvador
Curaçao
Preliminary winner 9 (Trinidad and Tobago, Montserrat, Cuba or French Guiana)

Group B
USA
Canada
Martinique
Preliminary winner 7 (Haiti, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Bermuda or Barbados)

Group C
Costa Rica
Jamaica
Suriname
Preliminary winner 8 (Guatemala, Guyana, Guadeloupe, Bahamas)

Group D
Honduras
Panama
Grenada
Qatar

CANADA 60-MAN LIST CURRENT CLUB
Tesho Akindele USA / Orlando City SC
Ayo Akinola CAN / Toronto FC
Scott Arfield SCO / Glasgow Rangers FC
Theo Bair CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Michael Baldisimo CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Zorhan Bassong CAN / CF Montréal
Clément Bayiha CAN / CF Montréal
Zachary Brault-Guillard CAN / CF Montréal
Charles-Andreas Brym
Tajon Buchanan USA / New England Revolution
Lucas Cavallini CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Jay Chapman USA / Inter Miami CF
Mathieu Choinière CAN / CF Montréal
Theo Corbeanu ENG / Wolverhampton Wanderers FC
Derek Cornelius CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Maxime Crépeau CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Jonathan David FRA / Lille OSC
Alphonso Davies GER / FC Bayern München
Caniggia Elva GER / FC Ingolstadt 04
Stephen Eustáquio POR / FC Paços de Ferreira
Ricardo Ferreira
Marcelo Flores ENG / Arsenal FC
Liam Fraser USA / Columbus Crew SC
Marcus Godinho GER / FSV Zwickau
Cristián Gutiérrez CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Thomas Hasal CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Doneil Henry KOR / Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Junior Hoilett
Atiba Hutchinson TUR / Beşiktaş JK
Daniel Jebbison ENG / Sheffield United FC
Alistair Johnston USA / Nashville SC
Mark-Anthony Kaye USA / Los Angeles FC
Scott Kennedy GER / SSV Jahn Regensburg
Cyle Larin TUR / Beşiktaş JK
Richie Laryea CAN / Toronto FC
Jayson Leutwiler ENG / Huddersfield Town
Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty CAN / Toronto FC
Liam Millar ENG / Liverpool FC
Kamal Miller CAN / CF Montréal
Ashtone Morgan USA / Real Salt Lake FC
Jayden Nelson CAN / Toronto FC
Noble Okello CAN / Toronto FC
Jonathan Osorio CAN / Toronto FC
James Pantemis CAN / CF Montréal
Tyler Pasher USA / Houston Dynamo
Harry Paton SCO / Ross County FC
Samuel Piette CAN / CF Montréal
Ralph Priso CAN / Toronto FC
Ryan Raposo CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Tosaint Ricketts CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Jacob Shaffelburg CAN / Toronto FC
Luke Singh CAN / Toronto FC
Dayne St. Clair USA / Minnesota United FC
Frank Sturing NED / FC Den Bosch
Russell Teibert CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Kris Twardek POL / Jagiellonia Białystok
Jules Anthony Vilsaint BEL / Royal Antwerp
Steven Vitória POR / Moreirense FC
Joel Waterman CAN / CF Montréal
David Wotherspoon SCO / St. Johnstone FC

[elly63]

Originally Posted by JHikka

People love to bring up something like "we should play in Edmonton in the winter to mess with the Central American teams!!!!" but truly that would affect Canada just as much. Assuming our players grew up playing on frozen turf in -40 simply isn't accurate, and because our team depends so much on skill, throwing matches into the snow just leads to a wildcard that we can't afford to have occur when we can beat so many teams with skill.

I agree with you to a certain extent but there's a reason Mexico plays at Azteca (altitude) at high noon, they can cope with it better than we can. The same does apply to cold weather games, yes, kids likely weren't out playing soccer in the snow all winter at minus 20 but they all have long experience with a Canadian winter something that people in the south do not. We can cope with 5 degrees in Edmonton in October, they would find it more difficult.

Not saying any of this will happen but it is a truism.

As I said, get Mexico out of their comfort zone and they can become very ordinary. The last time we played them was at altitude (Denver) At the time, (almost two years ago to the day) they dominated us for the first 60 minutes (although mostly in their own end with few chances). We made some subs, adjusted tactics and the game was much more even, and we had some good chances.

I think we're far better since then, I'm not saying we're totally on their level yet but we'll be competitive. Like him or not Herdman has got these guys believing and his in-game tactics (changing on the fly) seem to be as effective with the men as they were when he coached the women.

They have yet to face any real adversity which separates the men from the boys but I think they have the right people to cope with it. Most of his players are very solid people. When your (world) star is fully committed how can the rest not be?

[elly63]

Some interesting prospects highlighted above in the 60 man provisional Gold Cup roster (has to be cut down to 23) Herdman has done a fantastic job attracting and capping players to the program (better than any other CMNT coach) in my memory.

Just noticed Borjan not on that roster so that should give some much needed senior experience to Crepeau and Pantemis.

[VanCanMan]

Greetings,
I just discovered this forum, and it's fitting that my first comment will be about our men's national team, with whom I've suffered for almost 40 years (I tip my hat to Elly63).

Games need to be on TV to attract new fans. No one's going accidentally join something like OneSoccer and say, "Hm...this looks interesting." If games are on TV, casual fans and Euro-snobs can stumble upon them.
In Canada, once you have cable hooked up, it's hooked up. I don't see how going through even more rigamarole to join yet another service like OneSoccer is any easier.

[EndoftheBeginning]

Originally Posted by elly63

Some interesting prospects highlighted above in the 60 man provisional Gold Cup roster (has to be cut down to 23) Herdman has done a fantastic job attracting and capping players to the program (better than any other CMNT coach) in my memory.

Just noticed Borjan not on that roster so that should give some much needed senior experience to Crepeau and Pantermis.

This will be a balancing act as a serious injury to a key player in the Gold Cup would really hurt our chances in the Octagonal come September. I would expect Herdman to give a lot of the younger guys some time during the Gold Cup and to use the key guys judiciously. That should probably take precedence over going all out to try and win the tournament. Also, it's a good chance to cap-tie some additional players.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by EndoftheBeginning

This will be a balancing act as a serious injury to a key player in the Gold Cup would really hurt our chances in the Octagonal come September. I would expect Herdman to give a lot of the younger guys some time during the Gold Cup and to use the key guys judiciously. That should probably take precedence over going all out to try and win the tournament. Also, it's a good chance to cap-tie some additional players.

Yeah, i'd like to see more of a U23 or U25 team at Gold Cup frankly. There are a lot of younger players that could use some good CMNT minutes that won't be seeing much during the WCQ run this fall. Guys like Brault-Guillard, Okello, Shaffelburg, Akinola, and Buchanan should all get a lot of Gold Cup minutes IMO.

[Jammon]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Yeah, i'd like to see more of a U23 or U25 team at Gold Cup frankly. There are a lot of younger players that could use some good CMNT minutes that won't be seeing much during the WCQ run this fall. Guys like Brault-Guillard, Okello, Shaffelburg, Akinola, and Buchanan should all get a lot of Gold Cup minutes IMO.

I think Canada has a very good chance of qualifying for the 2022 WC. I could see either 3rd or the 4th place playoff spot. All of the teams, IMHO are beatable- no one team scares me like in past years where we saw dominance from Mexico and US and Costa Rica to a smaller degree. Canada is ascending and some of these teams are older and losing much of their previous talent. Costa Rica is a perfect example of a team that have maybe moved past their golden generation.

I think Canada has a real chance to develop some of this talent, but the bigger question surrounding consistency is more about cohesion of this group vs. raw talent. Guys like Hutchinson may be able to take the younger guys to a new level with a veteran presence. As long as Herdman can manage pressure-this team could go a long way in the octagon. I'm really looking forward to the adventure.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by VanCanMan

it's fitting that my first comment will be about our men's national team, with whom I've suffered for almost 40 years (I tip my hat to Elly63)

I can remember when Wes McLeod was the poster boy for Canadian soccer (unknown to the newbs)

[svlt]

We honestly have on paper the third best squad in the Octagonal. Just look at the resumes and clubs of our top players in Europe and compare them against Costa Rica, Jamaica, nevermind almost no names in Honduras/Panama/El Salvador.

It would be a choke if we don't at least make 4th for the intercontinental playoff. I then fancy our chances then if we manage to draw AFC (possibly Saudi, UAE, Iraq or China) or OFC (New Zealand and nobodies). If it's CONMEBOL then, well, we can just be proud of CMNT's achievements this cycle.

[megadude]

Definitely got a good chance based on momentum and the squad on paper but you know how sports goes.

Just have to look at international basketball and see rosters full of NBA players vs. rosters with only a couple or maybe none. And you know how many times the NBA laden team did not win.

And look back a few weeks ago to see a Team Canada with NHLers vs. a Team Latvia with zero NHLers.

Iceland (pop. under 400k) also qualified for Euro 2016 and WC 2018. Euro they finished group runners up in qualifying ahead of Turkey and 7 points ahead of Holland. For the WC they won their group ahead of Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey. They also ended up in the QF of that Euro after beating England in the R16.

But please, Canada, make the WC so I can wear my newly ordered replica Canada jersey. And maybe Canada can win the GC like in 2000 and I can wear it for like three straight days.

On a related note, I had on my Poland jersey up north at the Superstore by the cottage where there is a heavy Polish population of Polish cottagers (the beach is nicknamed Polska Playa) and some blonde Polish hottie gave me the eye and said yay Polska! I was basically a stud for a few seconds lol.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by megadude

On a related note, I had on my Poland jersey up north at the Superstore by the cottage where there is a heavy Polish population of Polish cottagers (the beach is nicknamed Polska Playa) and some blonde Polish hottie gave me the eye and said yay Polska! I was basically a stud for a few seconds lol.

That Iceland run at Euro 2016 that you referenced was one of the most awe-inspiring underdog performances I've ever seen. Really does go to show that anything can happen.