Canada’s long road through the final round of World Cup qualifying begins with a draw against Honduras

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This article was published 02/09/2021 (1857 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The opportunity the Canadian men’s soccer team was chasing when it took the pitch at BMO Field on Thursday night was clear.

A shot at the World Cup was on the line.

Fourteen games separated Canada and a place at the sport’s biggest tournament for the first time since 1986 as the country began the final round of World Cup qualification in the region. They played to a 1-1 tie with Honduras.

Eight nations will spend the next seven months competing in the octagon, the eight-team final CONCACAF qualifying round. Next March, three of those teams will be bound for the month-long World Cup in Qatar, which will host the 32 best squads in the world beginning in November 2022.

Coach John Herdman expected jitters as Canada embarked on its campaign, at home against one of the more beatable opponents, on paper, of the eight. But he also hoped to quickly settle into the tactical framework and cohesion that served Canada well through two previous rounds of qualifying.

The Canadians started well. Alphonso Davies created a number of early chances by getting in behind Honduran defenders on the left wing. But it was the visitors who settled first, and then went ahead thanks to some seamless attacking transition. Canadian winger Tajon Buchanan was called for bringing his man down in the box, and Alexander López netted the opener for Honduras in the 40th minute.

It was a frenetic affair through the first half, with tensions boiling over after the goal. There were scuffles between the players, egged on by a rowdy crowd of 14,822.

Herdman called it a game of two halves, lamenting the slow tempo and a lack of chemistry from the Canadians in the first period but praising the resiliency and the ability to settle nerves he saw from his group in the second half.

Canada equalized through a penalty of its own in the 66th minute, after Junior Hoilett was brought down in the Honduras box shortly after subbing on. Cyle Larin netted a cool, low kick, which would eventually ensure Canada finished on level terms.

“We’ve had a drop of two points tonight and we’ve got to make them up now, so that’s the exciting challenge for the group,” said Herdman, who emphasized the upcoming qualifying campaign was a marathon, not a sprint.

It wasn’t the three points Canada wanted but this final round of qualification also presents another less obvious opportunity, one that is not necessarily dependant on vying for that shiny gold trophy next year but could have a lasting impact across the country nonetheless.

Canadians sports fans of all kinds may finally fall for its men’s national soccer team, the best squad to represent the country in decades, maybe ever.

All of the elements are in place for Canada Soccer to capitalize. Existing fans are already enamoured, as was clear from the noise they produced at BMO Field on Thursday, the first time the team played at home since its October 2019 victory over the United States, which broke a 34-year losing streak.

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With 14 matches between now and next March, all of which will be broadcast on major television networks TSN or Sportsnet as well as online on OneSoccer, casual fans have the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with this up-and-coming team. And if qualification for the World Cup in 2022 doesn’t pan out, Canada will certainly be World Cup bound in 2026, when it jointly hosts the tournament with the United States and Mexico.

And it has the kind of players who should long inspire. Thursday’s starting lineup included defenders Alistair Johnston and Steven Vitoria, midfielders Buchanan, Stephen Eustaquio and Davies, and striker Jonathan David. All are under the age of 25 and all are in the infancies of their careers. All are marketable as stars for now and for the future.

If Canada Soccer can get their faces and stories out there over the next five years and get fans paying attention to this exciting, emerging and, quite possibly, soon-to-be winning team and Canada could boast a group of household names by the time the World Cup reaches home soil.

It may not be the obvious goal Canada was aiming at Thursday night, but it would be a win all the same for the game in this country.

“It’s the start of a journey and we’ve got the ability to get better,” Herdman said. “That’s the exciting thing for us.”