QUALIFIED

Qualified!

A new era of football has dawned in this nation.  One where the conversation switches from, “Can we qualify for a World Cup?” to, “I wonder who will be in our group?”, “Could we get out of our group?”, “Can we possibly advance to the quarter-finals?”, “Who would you pick to take PK’s should it come to that?”.  These are all questions that have been absent from the Canadian Men’s Soccer dialogue for 36 years, back before BAS even existed. But now they’ve qualified.

This new conversation was made possible after an historic win on Sunday on home turf in front of 30 000 fans and millions more at home.  Our boys needed only a draw to qualify, but this is not how the new CANMNT plays the game. A team with a near-flawless 14-1-4 record who has outscored their opponents 54-7 in World Cup qualifying is never content with a draw.  A solid performance by the side with goals from Brampton’s Cyle Larin, Tajon Buchanan, and Junior Hoilett secured the victory and earned Canada our first spot in the world’s preeminent sporting event since 1986.

To a man, the CANMNT tell us they are only getting started.  And after witnessing this unprecedented run, you’d be a fool to think otherwise.

A look back at Canada’s last World Cup run.