Canadian fans will have a double header of international
\u200bsoccer this Thursday 25 March when Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team kicks
\u200boff FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers against Bermuda immediately followed
\u200bby the U-23 National Team facing Honduras in an all-important Concacaf Men’s
\u200bOlympic Qualifying match. The two Canadian soccer matches will be broadcast
\u200bback-to-back on OneSoccer.ca as part of a Super Thursday of international
\u200bsoccer coverage.
Both matches will be broadcast live starting with a pre-match
\u200bshow at 19.00 ET / 16.00 PT. The Canada-Bermuda match from Orlando, FL, USA
\u200bkicks off at 20.00 ET / 17.00 PT while the Canada-Honduras match from
\u200bGuadalajara, JA, Mexico kicks off two hours later at 22.00 ET / 19.00 PT. Fans
\u200bwill find extended coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Twitter,
\u200bInstagram, Facebook and YouTube featuring the hashtag #CANMNT.
Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team has a fully committed
\u200bgroup on the journey to Qatar 2022. The Group B match will be the first of four
\u200bthat Canada plays as part of the Concacaf First Round of Qualifiers and will
\u200bmark the start of Canada’s return to competitive match action following a
\u200b16-month break due to the ongoing COVID pandemic.
“The environment we have right now is great within the
\u200bteam,” said midfielder Atiba Hutchinson. “We’re excited to have our group
\u200btogether again and we are looking forward to getting this campaign underway and
\u200bhopefully doing something incredible for our country.”
At Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying, all four nations in
\u200bCanada’s group still have a chance to advance to the Semi-Finals. El Salvador
\u200b(one point, -2 goals difference) and Haiti (one point, -3 goals difference)
\u200bkick off first followed by Canada (four points, +2 goals difference) against
\u200brivals Honduras (four points, +3 goals difference). Canada need a win or a draw
\u200bagainst Honduras to ensure they control their own destiny and advance to the
\u200bConcacaf semi-finals which is the region’s decisive round to qualify for the
\u200bOlympic Games.
CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
\u200bIn FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Canada faces their tough Concacaf opponents Bermuda in an official match for the first time since 1992. Canada are hosts for this match at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, followed by an away match against Cayman Islands in Bradenton, FL, USA on 28 March at IMG Sports Complex (16.00 ET / 13.00 PT live on OneSoccer). Canada will complete Group B play with matches against Aruba on 5 June and Suriname on 8 June.
“In Concacaf you cannot overlook any nation and we know
\u200bBermuda will be a very strong team,” said John Herdman, Canada Soccer’s Men’s
\u200bNational Team Head Coach. “They are a cohesive unit that is very clear on their
\u200btactical identity with strong team spirit. They have some players who are very
\u200bexperienced in Concacaf. We’ve had experience with this type of challenge in
\u200bConcacaf Nations League against difficult teams so our players will have to be
\u200bprepared to match the intensity and intent for the full 90 minutes.”
Like Canada, Bermuda competed in Concacaf Nations League A
\u200bin 2019-20, although they were relegated after four matches against Mexico and Panama.
\u200bAfter an opening loss at home to Panama, they won 2:0 away in Panama, lost at
\u200bhome against Mexico, then suffered a heartbreaking 2:1 away loss in Mexico on a
\u200b93rdminute winner.
While Canada and Bermuda have not faced each other in
\u200bofficial competition at the men’s international “A” level since 1992, Canada
\u200bmost recently won 4:2 away in Bermuda in January 2007, giving Canada an
\u200bundefeated 5-4-0 edge in the all-time record between the two nations.
From the first round of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™
\u200bQualifiers, the Group B winner will face the Group E winner in a second-round,
\u200bhead-to-head series on 12 and 15 June 2021. The winner from that second round
\u200bthen advances to the Concacaf Final Round of eight nations in which each nation
\u200bwill play each opponent twice (once at home and once on the road).
FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022™ QUALIFIERS
\u200bConcacaf 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).
CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM
\u200bCanada 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.