Canada Soccer have announced that their opening match of the
\u200bFIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers will be played at Exploria Stadium in
\u200bOrlando, FL, USA on Thursday 25 March. The closed-door match will be the first
\u200bof four FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers scheduled for March and June from
\u200bwhich only the group winner will advance to the next round.
The Canada-Bermuda match will be broadcast live on One
\u200bSoccer (20.00 ET / 17.00 PT). Fans will find extended coverage across Canada
\u200bSoccer’s digital channels on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube featuring
\u200bthe hashtag #CANMNT. After Bermuda, Canada is scheduled to face Cayman Islands
\u200bon 28 March, Aruba on 5 June and Suriname on 8 June. In all, 30 Concacaf
\u200bnations are competing in this first round with six group winners advancing to a
\u200bsecond round of head-to-head knockout matches.
“Canada Soccer continues to prioritize the safety for all of our players and staff throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic,” said Peter Montopoli, Canada Soccer General Secretary. “Canada Soccer has established the International Camp Protocols for National Teams which will be adhered to for the hosting of this all-important home match for our Men’s National Team in the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar™ Qualifiers. In addition, the game will be staged in accordance with the FIFA International Match Protocols supported by the relevant public health requirements in Orlando.”
FIFA have established Canada’s pathway for the FIFA World
\u200bCup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers beginning with an initial round of four matches
\u200bagainst Group B opponents Aruba, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Suriname.
Every match in this round is crucial on Canada’s pathway to
\u200bthe FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. The official window on the FIFA Men’s
\u200bInternational Match Calendar runs 22-30 March. Canada Soccer’s Men’s National
\u200bTeam previously trained and played in Orlando in November 2019 (their most
\u200brecent competitive match in Concacaf Nations League A) while Exploria Stadium
\u200bhas most recently hosted the SheBelieves Cup matches featuring Canada Soccer’s
\u200bWomen’s National Team.
Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team face a busy
\u200binternational schedule in 2021 that includes the four competitive matches in
\u200bFIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers in March and June. Also, in March, Canada
\u200bSoccer’s Men’s U-23 National Team will complete in the Concacaf Men’s Olympic
\u200bQualifying in Guadalajara, Mexico. In July, Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team
\u200bare scheduled to compete in the Concacaf Gold Cup with group stage matches
\u200bagainst Martinique, USA and a yet-to-be determined third opponent.
“We want to ensure that our best players wear the red shirt
\u200band represent Canada because those players want to change the sport in our
\u200bcountry by qualifying for the FIFA World Cup™,” said John Herdman, Canada
\u200bSoccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach. “There is a group of players that have
\u200bbeen part of the battle these past two years, they’ve been developing together
\u200bon and off the pitch and they will be the narrators of what could be an amazing
\u200bstory for soccer in this country.
“It is important that when competing in Concacaf, at a stage
\u200bwhere every game has so much at stake, that we are always at our strongest. We
\u200bknow this a long campaign consisting of 20 matches to reach Qatar 2022 and
\u200bthere are various stages in this campaign for which we have to plan, but we
\u200bwill be taking it one game at a time with a laser-like focus on reaching the
\u200bConcacaf Final Round.”
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 on 12 and 15 June 2021. 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
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 Mexico
\u200b(U-15) and Costa Rica (U-17) in Concacaf youth competitions.