Canada face Aruba on Saturday in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team hope to pick up where
​they left off with another strong performance in FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers
​when the Concacaf First Round continues on Saturday in Bradenton, Florida.
​After back-to-back wins in March, Canada come into the June window with confidence
​and anticipation as they prepare to face Aruba in their third of four matches
​in Concacaf Group B.

Canada’s international matches in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™
​Qualifiers will all be broadcast live on OneSoccer with the Saturday
​Aruba-Canada match scheduled to kick off at 20.00 ET / 17.00 PT and the Tuesday
​Canada-Suriname match scheduled for 21.00 ET / 18.00 PT (20.00 local in
​Bridgeview, Illinois). Canada’s home match on 8 June at SeatGeek Stadium will
​be played in a closed-door environment. Fans will find extended coverage across
​Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
​featuring the hashtag #CANMNT.

Only the group winner will advance beyond the First Round of
​FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers, with the Group B winner to face the
​Group E winner in a Second Round, a head-to-head series on 12 and 15 June that
​will start in either Belize, Haiti or Nicaragua. The winner from that Second
​Round then advances to the Concacaf Final Round of eight nations scheduled to begin
​in the Fall of 2021.

“It’s great to be back together and continue to build on our
​momentum as every match counts on the road to Qatar 2022,” said John Herdman,
​Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach. “We have an opportunity to
​build on our solid start, after we put ourselves in a good position with goals
​difference in the first two matches so that we can control our destiny in the
​matches to come.”

“Our main focus is ourselves and what we are capable of
​achieving,” said veteran Steven Vitória, a Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team
​centre back. “It is one step at a time and our focus is Aruba, so during those
​90 minutes we want to be at our best. We respect our opponent and we can’t take
​a moment for granted, so we have to push ourselves and push our limits.”

Canada opened their Group B schedule with back-to-back wins
​in March, starting with the 5:1 victory over Bermuda on 25 March and then the
​record-setting 11:0 win over Cayman Islands on 29 March. As each Group B nation
​faces each other only once, goals difference could be the deciding statistic
​that qualifies a nation for the next round. Canada and Suriname are currently
​the top-two teams in Group B with perfect six points from their two wins in
​March, with Canada on +15 goals difference compared to Suriname on +9 goals
​difference. Bermuda are next with three points (+1 goals) while Aruba and
​Cayman Islands were both eliminated after back-to-back losses in March.
​Suriname, who have drawn on new Dutch-born recruits from leagues in Europe,
​will face Bermuda on 4 June in a home match in Paramaribo, Suriname.

In all, 30 Concacaf nations are competing in this first
​round with six group winners advancing to a second round of head-to-head
​knockout matches. FIFA have established Canada’s pathway for the FIFA World Cup
​Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers beginning with an initial round of four matches against
​Group B opponents Aruba, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Suriname.

“We’ve created something here, a brotherhood based on a
​shared purpose to qualify this team to the FIFA World Cup,” said Herdman. “They
​care about each other and that’s the first thing. They care about taking this
​team to the FIFA World Cup and you saw it in March when they had a chance to be
​back together and build on that spirit in the Canada shirt.”

CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM

Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team, two-time Concacaf
​champions, were one of only four nations that have finished top-six across all
​three of Concacaf major tournaments across the past three years: fifth place in
​Concacaf Nations League A and sixth place at both the 2017 and 2019 Concacaf
​Gold Cups. In 2019 against Concacaf’s top three nations, Canada earned a
​victory against USA in Concacaf Nations League as well as eliminated both
​Mexico (U-15) and Costa Rica (U-17) in Concacaf youth competitions.

It will be an exciting yet busy summer of soccer for Canada
​Soccer’s Men’s National Team Program in 2021. On the heels of FIFA World Cup
​Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers in June, Canada will participate in the 30th anniversary
​edition of the Concacaf Gold Cup, with their Group B matches scheduled in
​Kansas City on 11 July against Martinique, 15 July against a
​yet-to-be-determined Caribbean nation from the preliminary round, and 18 July
​against USA. The top-two nations from Group B advance to the final round with
​the Quarterfinals on 24 July, the Semifinals on 29 July, and the Final on 1
​August.

FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022™ QUALIFIERS

Concacaf have established Canada’s pathway for FIFA World
​Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers beginning with a First Round being played amongst
​the Concacaf Member Associations ranked 6-35 based on the FIFA Men’s Ranking as
​of 16 July 2020. From the first round of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers,
​the Group B winner will face the Group E winner in a second-round, head-to-head
​series. The winner from that second round then advances to the Concacaf Final
​Round of eight nations in which each nation will play each opponent twice (once
​at home and once on the road).