Canada’s dream of returning to the World Cup has been put on hold—yet again—in an agonizing story that has become all too familiar over the past three decades.
The Canadians earned a 3-1 win over El Salvador on Tuesday night in Vancouver, salvaging a small measure of pride, but not doing enough to prevent them from being officially eliminated from qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The Reds opened the scoring in the 11th minute, somewhat against the run of play after a strong start by the visitors. El Salvador failed to clear its lines inside its box, and after taking a deflection the ball fell to Cyle Larin who blasted it home. Nik Ledgerwood made it 2-0 in the 54th minute after some lovely buildup play by teammate Atiba Hutchinson.
Shortly after, El Salvador captain Darwin Ceren was sent off after earning his second yellow card. The visitors made it 2-1 when Nelson Bonilla scored in the 78th minute. David Edgar added a goal for Canada in injury time.
Canada finished third in its semifinal qualifying group for the CONCACAF region, behind Mexico and Honduras, and ahead of El Salvador. The top two teams in the group advance to the final round of the qualifiers in CONCACAF, known as ‘the Hex.’
It’s only been 30 years since Canada’s first and only World Cup appearance, not that really long ago when you think about it. But that 1986 World Cup in Mexico must seem like eons ago for Canadian soccer fans of a certain age. Back then it felt like Canada was in the middle of a golden era—the Reds qualified for the World Cup for the first time, and they gave Brazil all it could handle before losing in a dramatic shootout in the quarterfinals of the 1984 Olympic tournament in Los Angeles. It seemed like the start of something special, and that the best was yet to come.
Instead, we got the worst—World Cup qualifying cycle after cycle of bitter disappointment and promises of better days that never came. Not only has Canada not even qualified for the World Cup since 1986, it hasn’t even made it to ‘the Hex’ since the buildup to the 1998 tournament.
There was hope—be it ever so slight, but still hope—that Canada could pull off a miracle on Tuesday night and overturn a five-goal difference to beat out Honduras for second place in the group. Realistically, the Reds needed a 4-0 win against El Salvador, and it also needed Mexico to beat Honduras 2-0.
But who’s kidding who here? We’re talking about a Canadian side that on only six occasions scored more than one goal in a game in their previous 38 matches. A four goal outburst from an offensively challenged Canada was never going to happen on this night, and it was naive to think otherwise. That might be a bitter pill to swallow, but it is the reality.
Here’s another uncomfortable truth for you: Canada has neither the quality nor the depth of talent to qualify for ‘the Hex,’ never mind the World Cup. For all the progress that has been made at the grassroots level in terms of player development—and yes, progress has been made, so there’s no need to ‘blow up’ the entire system as some might suggest—and for all of the team’s improved tactical awareness under coach Benito Floro, the simple fact is that the Canadian player pool is pretty shallow.
Floro is a lot of things; a miracle worker isn’t one them. At times he certainly didn’t help his cause with his questionable in-game management, and by leaving talented players at home due to personal issues. He likely won’t be signed to a new contract, and that’s the right call. It’s time for someone else to come in.
But this isn’t all on him, and it’s misguided to think that another manager would be able to get anything more out of this collection of players. You can only play the cards you’re dealt, and in the Spaniard’s case he was only holding a pair of deuces—you can’t bluff your way out of trouble with that hand in CONCACAF. This Canadian side is the exact sum of its parts—nothing more.
Is the team any better since Floro took over the reins three years ago? Yes and no. On the one hand, many of the Canadian players swear by him, pointing out that from a tactical and intellectual perspective that they’ve never been better prepared for games. More than a few have credited Floro with helping them to raise their on-field IQ and changed the way they think about the game.
At the end of the day, though, the results speak for themselves—Canada was eliminated this time around at the very same stage of qualifying four years ago. Granted the Reds didn’t lose 8-1 this time; still that hardly counts as progress.
You’re probably not going to want to listen to this, especially now with the wound still open, and because you’ve heard it so many times before, but there is hope for the future. The recent appointment of former Canadian international Jason deVos as Canada Soccer’s director of development is exactly the shot in the arm the game in this country needs.
Considering Canadian soccer’s well documented developmental problems, this is a position Canada Soccer should have created and staffed a long time ago. Better late than never, I suppose, and the hiring of deVos is a sign that Canada Soccer is serious about tackling the issue head on.
deVos is a smart guy who is deeply passionate about player development. More important, he’s never been shy about speaking truth to power. From a player development point of view, Canadian soccer will gain so much from deVos’ blunt but fair assessments. We’re not going to start developing better players overnight, though. Patience will be required.
And that’s fine anyway, because this has always been about the long game, right? If we’re honest with ourselves, we knew, deep down, that the 2018 World Cup was way beyond the men’s team. Even 2022 is a write-off at this point.
But 2026? There’s a flicker of hope.
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