Canada Soccer Part VII: Copa America Semifinal Edition

[JunglePete]

Fun fact - Canada has never managed a result in the FIFA World Cup (win or draw). They have qualified twice (1986 and 2022) and both times lost all 3 matches.

Yeah that sounds promising for 2026

 

[wingman75]

Well, you have to start somewhere.

4 more years of growth will do this team well. Plus there will be some new talent in the mix.

The first 90 and final 45 of the tournament were what I wanted to see. The middle 135 we got put in our place.

Nations League, Gold Cup, hopefully COPA America and quality friendlies will be key to continuing the programs resurgence.

Bright days ahead despite this reality check.

 

[ForumNamePending]

I dunno... It's hard for me to be disappointed in the WC performance. I mean not too long ago the idea of Canada even playing in the '22 WC seemed ridiculous. Before this cycle the last time Canada even made the final round of qualifying was '98. A ton progress has been made in a short period of time.

I'm no expert, but I think Canada is generally decent in attack, but it is clear it is lacking both technically and talent wise on the other end of the field... err pitch. Hopefully that can improve before '26. I think Canada can/will continue to get better to a certain extent, but I also think its ceiling in world soccer is probably relatively low.

I expect Canada will be/remain a regional power/contender, and with the expanded field, Canada should become a WC regular, but anything beyond that... . I mean Mexico is a country of almost 130 million where soccer is by far the biggest sport. The United States is a country of over 330 million where over the past 30+ years, in an effort to make soccer relavent in the US, and the US relavent in soccer, BILLIONS of dollars have been spent. Despite this both countries produce national teams that generally don't do much more than scrape and claw their way out of the group stage before getting bounced in the round of 16. If that's the best those 2 countries have been able to do, I have a hard time having particularly high expectations for Canada.

 

[robertmac43]

Tough to come away with no points. The atmosphere was wild, hostile for those Canadian players tbh.

More thoughts on all this when I'm home. For now i got to watch this second set of games and go to sleep.

 

[wingman75]

Some really good teams not advancing to the Round of 16. Our group was tough... them's the breaks though.

 

[Hadoop]

31st out of 32 teams.

Hey at least we had a better goal differential than Qatar lol!

 

[Dr Pepper]

Tough to come away with no points. The atmosphere was wild, hostile for those Canadian players tbh.

More thoughts on all this when I'm home. For now i got to watch this second set of games and go to sleep.

How so?

I don't think they faced any harsher treatment than any other team.....save for the Iranians, probably.

 

[maclean]

How so?

I don't think they faced any harsher treatment than any other team.....save for the Iranians, probably.

Probably in terms of being vastly, vastly outnumbered

 

[robertmac43]

@al secord I was just walking around Souk Waqif (the market here) and i bumped into your favourite player Kamal Miller. Absolutely class act. He was super nice and even tanked us Canadian fans for coming out to support.

 

[Pink Mist]

 

[robertmac43]

Massive for Johnston.

 

[robertmac43]

Apparently Waterman has some interest from Austria, Turkey, and Germany. That whole Canadian defence core for Montreal may be on the move.

 

[luiginb]

Massive for Johnston.

Is he going to play over Juranovic though?

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Back down the rankings we go.

 

[Savant]

Back down the rankings we go.

Does anyone think Ghana should be the worst team on here?

 

[Karterthadon]

Does anyone think Ghana should be the worst team on here?

Nope, definitely better than any asian, Concacaf and some european teams on there (*ahem* Wales)

 

[Savant]

Nope, definitelt better than any asian, Concacaf and sone european teams on there (*ahem* Wales)

I just want to see all the FIFA ranking fan boys try to justify it

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Does anyone think Ghana should be the worst team on here?

Ghana has a better overall team and the scores were unflattering. Canada had the worst backline of all the teams this tournament.

Please watch more international football going forward and you will see why Canada is ranked so lowly. The style we play is really disorganized and they always looked vulnerable when the ball went the other way.

 

[Savant]

Ghana has a better overall team and the scores were unflattering. Canada had the worst backline of all the teams this tournament.

Please watch more international football going forward and you will see why Canada is ranked so lowly. The style we play is really disorganized and they always looked vulnerable when the ball went the other way.

Oh no I know what you are saying. My point is the FIFA Rankings as a rating system are trash

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Oh no I know what you are saying. My point is the FIFA Rankings as a rating system are trash

They are trash. Some european teams along with the USA are always ranked too high.

 

[Savant]

They are trash. Some european teams along with the USA are always ranked too high.

And people still defend them as a good metric

 

[al secord]

Oh no I know what you are saying. My point is the FIFA Rankings as a rating system are trash

Is this a revelation for some?

 

[Savant]

Is this a revelation for some?

Yes for some on here it is. But most of them won’t be back for another four years

 

[robertmac43]

Is he going to play over Juranovic though?

I doubt right away, that 5 year deal makes me think this is a project signing. Give it a season and a half and I think he will be starting.

 

[red devil]