Hutchinson, Canada’s active leader in Men’s National Team
\u200bappearances, is just the second Canadian to feature in five editions of FIFA
\u200bWorld Cup™ Qualifiers. Of his 85 career international appearances for Canada,
\u200bhe has made 14 of those in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers including six at BMO Field
\u200bin Toronto. Since the current edition started in the global pandemic, these
\u200bSeptember matches will be Canada’s first FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers at home
\u200bsince September 2016.
“This time around we’ve got a team that is full of talent,”
\u200bsaid Hutchinson. “We’ve got a lot of players that are playing in some good
\u200bclubs around the world. They have great abilities and can add a lot to the team
\u200band have been doing that over the past couple of years. So, this time around,
\u200bthere’s a different feeling in the squad.”
Tickets for Canada’s two home matches at BMO Field in Toronto are available via Ticketmaster.ca, with the first match on Thursday 2 September against Honduras and the next match on Wednesday 8 September against El Salvador. In between the two home matches, Canada will play away against USA in Nashville, TN on Sunday 5 September.
Canada’s two home matches will be broadcast live on OneSoccer (Canada v Honduras at 20.00 local / 20.00 ET / 17.00 PT; Canada v El Salvador at 19.30 local / 19.30 ET / 16.30 PT) while the away match will be broadcast live on TSN and RDS (USA v Canada on 5 September at 19.00 local / 20.00 ET / 17.00 PT). Fans will find extended coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube featuring the hashtags #CANMNT and #CANWNT.
Coming into his fifth campaign of FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers
\u200bwith Canada, Hutchinson believes this time around the style of play has
\u200bchanged. Hutchinson explained that “we go into games with a different mentality
\u200bnow. We believe that we can win against any team in this region.”
The 38-year old Hutchinson described this new squad as
\u200bfearless, admitting that he didn’t think he would be back playing for Canada at
\u200bthis stage in his career. He said he is extremely grateful and blessed to be in
\u200bthe position and “extremely happy to see that we’ve been growing and developing
\u200bover the years.”
Hutchinson believes that kicking off the Final Round of the
\u200btournament at home will provide Canada with a good start.
“We’re all very aware of what we need to do, how important
\u200bit is playing at home and protecting our home. Getting the maximum amount of
\u200bpoints we can at home and then taking care of the rest on the road.”
The Be\u015fikta\u015f veteran midfielder is returning to play at
\u200bhome, just a few kilometers away from his hometown of Brampton, for the first
\u200btime since October 2018 in Concacaf Nations League Qualifying. Of his 12 career
\u200bappearances at BMO Field in all competitions, Hutchinson has an all-time record
\u200bof seven wins, four draws and one loss (including six consecutive wins since
\u200b2012).
“Just knowing that we were gonna have a game here in Toronto
\u200band to have that feeling of coming back home playing in front of our home
\u200bcrowd, in front of my family and friends again, which a couple years ago, I
\u200bdidn’t think would happen again. It’s just exciting. I’m really looking forward
\u200bto it. We’ve got a team that can be very successful and make a lot of noise on
\u200bthat (and) that comes together with it. I think, creating that feeling of
\u200bhaving that home advantage is going to be great for us. So yeah, I’m really
\u200blooking forward to it.”
Story by Duaa Rizvi
CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM
Canada has built plenty of momentum in a landmark year for
\u200bthe Men’s National Team Program that will feature a record 19 international matches
\u200bincluding FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and the Concacaf Gold Cup. Canada have
\u200balready played 11 of those 19 matches, posting a record of 9-0-2 with six clean
\u200bsheets and a record 42 goals scored. Canada also set a record with eight
\u200bconsecutive wins and reached the Concacaf Gold Cup Semifinals for the first
\u200btime since 2007.
Canada will play eight of their 14 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
\u200bin the Concacaf Final Round from September through November 2021: three matches
\u200bin September, three matches in October, and two matches in November). In 2022,
\u200bCanada will play three more matches in January/February and three more matches
\u200bin March. Along with Honduras, USA and El Salvador, Canada’s other opponents in
\u200bthe Concacaf Final Round are Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico and Panama.
To reach the Concacaf Final Round, Canada won their First
\u200bRound group against Aruba, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Suriname, then
\u200beliminated Haiti in a head-to-head Second Round series. This marks the first
\u200btime since 1997 that Canada have reached the Concacaf Final Round of FIFA World
\u200bCup Qualifiers. From the Concacaf Final Round of eight nations, the top-three
\u200bnations automatically qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the
\u200bfourth-best nation advancing to an inter-continental playoff for additional
\u200bFIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team are two-time Concacaf
\u200bchampions, previously winning the 1985 Concacaf Championship and 2000 Concacaf
\u200bGold Cup. This year marks Canada’s 15th participation at the Concacaf Gold Cup
\u200bsince 1991. Along with their first-place finish in 2000, Canada reached the
\u200bSemifinals in 2002, 2007, and 2021. Across the past five years from 2017 to
\u200b2021, Canada are one of only four nations that have finished top-six across all
\u200bthree Concacaf major tournaments: fifth place in Concacaf Nations League A and
\u200bsixth place at both the 2017 and 2019 Concacaf Gold Cups.