The Canadian men's national soccer team will face Qatar and Uruguay in friendlies to prepare for the World Cup, Canada Soccer announced Wednesday.
Canada meets World Cup host Qatar on Sept. 23 and Uruguay on Sept. 27 with both games in Vienna, Austria.
Like Canada, Uruguay qualified for the World Cup, which starts Nov. 21.
“We have an opportunity to experience two FIFA World Cup opponents within a similar time frame as a FIFA World Cup schedule, so these two matches will provide our players and staff with a chance to rehearse our on- and off-the-field processes and systems aligned to the competition’s three-day turnaround,” said Canada coach John Herdman.
“With the second match against Uruguay, it will be a genuine tier-one test given the depth and quality of their players which gives us an opportunity to evaluate our squad and our approach.”
Canada never has played Qatar and has faced Uruguay just once -- a 3-1 loss in Miami in advance of the 1986 World Cup.
