Canadian men's national team earn FIFA's 'Most Improved Side' honour

Canada's Tajon Buchanan celebrates scoring his team's third goal against El Salvador during second half World Cup qualifying action in Toronto. (Chris Young/CP)

FIFA announced Thursday that the Canadian men's national soccer team has been awarded the "Most Improved Side" for 2021.

Having picked up 130.32 points in the FIFA rating system over the past 12 months, Canada has moved up to 40th in the world rankings.

Stellar performances in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying, including a 2-1 win over Mexico and a 4-1 win over Panama, as well as a semifinal berth in the 2021 Gold Cup propelled Team Canada to the award.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 352 full internationals were played in 2020. Not since 1987 (323 matches) had so few games been played in a calendar year. By contrast, planet football made up for lost time in 2021 with a record-breaking 1,116 matches played.

Belgium beat out Brazil and France to remain FIFA's No. 1 ranked team for the fourth year in a row, while UEFA EURO 2020 winning Italy was awarded the No. 6 ranking.

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