Miracle Hour: Can Canada finally qualify for the World Cup?
By Jim James
The first international break of the 2021-22 season is officially over, and so are the first 3 games of the final stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Canada has 5 points, draws vs Honduras & USA, and a 3-0 win vs El Salvador. It puts them Tied-2nd with Panama & USA, behind Mexico in 1st with 7 points. There is 14 games, with Canada’s last on March 30, 2022. Do Canada have what it takes to be either in one of the 3 top spots or 4th? Here is a tactical & logical analysis of Canada’s first 3 games to try and predict their finish and see if they will make their 2nd World cup appearance ever.
A thing to remember: Canada don’t have to beat Mexico and/or the USA, since there are 3 automatic qualifying spots, they just have to beat the rest. Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, etc. They can also finish 4th, which would put them in the Inter-Qualifying tournament to face a team from another Continent in a 2-legged fixture for a World Cup berth. A top-3 spot is preferred, needless to say.
How’d they do in their first 3 games?
Canada 1-1 Honduras
A bad defensive error is the reason we have 5 points and not 7 here, and other than the shots on target, we dominated Honduras here. Twice more possession & passes, pass accuracy was better, and we got almost 5x more corners. Just a poor error.
USA 1-1 Canada
Now here we were lucky. Miracle works happened for us to get the 1 crucial point. Brenden Aaronson scored in the 55th minute, and we were lucky the USA played such a negative game, with only 2 shots on target with over 70% possession. We could have easily lost here.
Canada 3-0 El Salvador
A great performance by the men, the soccer in the first 15 minutes was outstanding, we played like dogs and we got 2 goals out of it. A poor error from El Salvador cost them in their 3rd conceded goal, so more of that, s’il vous plait!
How does the squad look?
From the Team Canada website, here is the squad John Herdman called up for the most recent WC qualifiers
GK- Milan Borjan | SRB / FK Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade)
GK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
GK- James Pantemis | CAN / CF Montréal
CB- Doneil Henry | KOR / Suwon Samsung Bluewings
CB- Scott Kennedy | GER / SSV Jahn Regensburg
CB- Kamal Miller | CAN / CF Montréal
CB- Steven Vitória | POR / Moreirense FC
FB- Samuel Adekugbe | TUR / Hatayspor FC
FB- Alphonso Davies | GER / FC Bayern München
FB- Alistair Johnston | USA / Nashville SC
FB- Richie Laryea | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Stephen Eustáquio | POR / FC Paços de Ferreira
M- Liam Fraser | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Atiba Hutchinson | TUR / Beşiktaş JK
M- Mark-Anthony Kaye | USA / Colorado Rapids
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Samuel Piette | CAN / CF Montréal
M- David Wotherspoon | SCO / St. Johnstone FC
F- Tajon Buchanan | USA / New England Revolution
F- Lucas Cavallini | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Jonathan David | FRA / Lille OSC
F- David Junior Hoilett | ENG / Reading FC
F- Cyle Larin | TUR / Beşiktaş JK
I must say, this Canadian team has very much improved from the team in 2017, with Johnathan David & Alphonso Davies the two new bright lights, but changes only a team Canada fan will notice happened, too. For instance, Stephen Estaquio declared for Canada in 2019, switching from Portugal, and since joining FC Paços de Ferreira, he’s skyrocketed to a shoo-in, and one of the stars of Canada’s midfield, Cyle Larin has slowly but surely improved to a starter alongside David, scoring in the Honduras & USA games, Milan Borjan has continued to lead the side in goal, and players like Richie Laryea, Tajon Buchanan, and Mark-Anthony Kaye have taken the Alphonso Davies route to develop in the MLS, and have done well at it. This is a team that is developing fast, and will probably quickly patch the holes made by Atiba Hutchinson & Milan Borjan when they retire.
How does the depth look?
One of the best players not yet called up is Dayne St. Clair, the future of Canadian goalkeeping, Zachary Brault-Guillard, and 21-year old former Liverpool player Liam Millar just a few, not to mention full reign of the Canadian PL, most notably striker Terran Campbell, a Pacific FC player who is 2nd in the goalscoring charts at just 22 years old.
Can they qualify?
It will be close, but the final verdict is…
Yes. I believe that Canada has a good enough squad to finish 3rd. Words of advice: Try to get at least 3 points in the remaining 3 games vs USA & Mexico, and try to minimize the Honduras-esque games, and we will be on our way to Qatar!