Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team hope to pick up where
\u200bthey left off with another strong performance in FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers
\u200bwhen the Concacaf First Round continues on Saturday in Bradenton, Florida.
\u200bAfter back-to-back wins in March, Canada come into the June window with confidence
\u200band anticipation as they prepare to face Aruba in their third of four matches
\u200bin Concacaf Group B.
Canada’s international matches in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™
\u200bQualifiers will all be broadcast live on OneSoccer with the Saturday
\u200bAruba-Canada match scheduled to kick off at 20.00 ET / 17.00 PT and the Tuesday
\u200bCanada-Suriname match scheduled for 21.00 ET / 18.00 PT (20.00 local in
\u200bBridgeview, Illinois). Canada’s home match on 8 June at SeatGeek Stadium will
\u200bbe played in a closed-door environment. Fans will find extended coverage across
\u200bCanada Soccer’s digital channels on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
\u200bfeaturing the hashtag #CANMNT.
Only the group winner will advance beyond the First Round of
\u200bFIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers, with the Group B winner to face the
\u200bGroup E winner in a Second Round, a head-to-head series on 12 and 15 June that
\u200bwill start in either Belize, Haiti or Nicaragua. The winner from that Second
\u200bRound then advances to the Concacaf Final Round of eight nations scheduled to begin
\u200bin the Fall of 2021.
“It’s great to be back together and continue to build on our
\u200bmomentum as every match counts on the road to Qatar 2022,” said John Herdman,
\u200bCanada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach. “We have an opportunity to
\u200bbuild on our solid start, after we put ourselves in a good position with goals
\u200bdifference in the first two matches so that we can control our destiny in the
\u200bmatches to come.”
“Our main focus is ourselves and what we are capable of
\u200bachieving,” said veteran Steven Vitória, a Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team
\u200bcentre back. “It is one step at a time and our focus is Aruba, so during those
\u200b90 minutes we want to be at our best. We respect our opponent and we can’t take
\u200ba moment for granted, so we have to push ourselves and push our limits.”
Canada opened their Group B schedule with back-to-back wins
\u200bin March, starting with the 5:1 victory over Bermuda on 25 March and then the
\u200brecord-setting 11:0 win over Cayman Islands on 29 March. As each Group B nation
\u200bfaces each other only once, goals difference could be the deciding statistic
\u200bthat qualifies a nation for the next round. Canada and Suriname are currently
\u200bthe top-two teams in Group B with perfect six points from their two wins in
\u200bMarch, with Canada on +15 goals difference compared to Suriname on +9 goals
\u200bdifference. Bermuda are next with three points (+1 goals) while Aruba and
\u200bCayman Islands were both eliminated after back-to-back losses in March.
\u200bSuriname, who have drawn on new Dutch-born recruits from leagues in Europe,
\u200bwill face Bermuda on 4 June in a home match in Paramaribo, Suriname.
In all, 30 Concacaf nations are competing in this first
\u200bround with six group winners advancing to a second round of head-to-head
\u200bknockout matches. FIFA have established Canada’s pathway for the FIFA World Cup
\u200bQatar 2022™ Qualifiers beginning with an initial round of four matches against
\u200bGroup B opponents Aruba, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Suriname.
“We’ve created something here, a brotherhood based on a
\u200bshared purpose to qualify this team to the FIFA World Cup,” said Herdman. “They
\u200bcare about each other and that’s the first thing. They care about taking this
\u200bteam to the FIFA World Cup and you saw it in March when they had a chance to be
\u200bback 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
\u200bchampions, were one of only four nations that have finished top-six across all
\u200bthree of Concacaf major tournaments across the past three years: fifth place in
\u200bConcacaf Nations League A and sixth place at both the 2017 and 2019 Concacaf
\u200bGold Cups. In 2019 against Concacaf’s top three nations, Canada earned a
\u200bvictory against USA in Concacaf Nations League as well as eliminated both
\u200bMexico (U-15) and Costa Rica (U-17) in Concacaf youth competitions.
It will be an exciting yet busy summer of soccer for Canada
\u200bSoccer’s Men’s National Team Program in 2021. On the heels of FIFA World Cup
\u200bQatar 2022™ Qualifiers in June, Canada will participate in the 30th anniversary
\u200bedition of the Concacaf Gold Cup, with their Group B matches scheduled in
\u200bKansas City on 11 July against Martinique, 15 July against a
\u200byet-to-be-determined Caribbean nation from the preliminary round, and 18 July
\u200bagainst USA. The top-two nations from Group B advance to the final round with
\u200bthe Quarterfinals on 24 July, the Semifinals on 29 July, and the Final on 1
\u200bAugust.
FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022™ QUALIFIERS
Concacaf have established Canada’s pathway for FIFA World
\u200bCup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers beginning with a First Round being played amongst
\u200bthe Concacaf Member Associations ranked 6-35 based on the FIFA Men’s Ranking as
\u200bof 16 July 2020. From the first round of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers,
\u200bthe Group B winner will face the Group E winner in a second-round, head-to-head
\u200bseries. The winner from that second round then advances to the Concacaf Final
\u200bRound of eight nations in which each nation will play each opponent twice (once
\u200bat home and once on the road).