Puerto Rico faces must-win battle with Canada in Toronto

With Canada well out in advance of the group standings, Puerto Rico now faces a must-win situation in Toronto this coming week. Canada will host the island team in Tuesday’s FIFA World Cup Qualifiers™ match at BMO Field. Canada needs but a single point against Puerto Rico to eliminate a second group team from Brazil 2014 hopes.



The Canada-Puerto Rico match will be played 7 October 2011 at BMO Field in Toronto. The match kicks off at 19.00 (local) and will be broadcast live on Sportsnet One (19.00 ET / 16.00 PT). Full coverage in the days leading up to the match will be available on CanadaSoccer.com, with bonus coverage provided through Canada’s social media platforms on youtube.com/CanadaSoccerTV, twitter.com/CanadaSoccerEN, facebook.com/canadasoccer, and flickr.com/canadasoccer.



Canada has been perfect in CONCACAF Stage II of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Brazil™. On Friday 7 October, the combination of Canada’s 7:0 victory over St. Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis’ 1:1 draw with Puerto Rico eliminated St. Lucia from the competition. After three matches, Canada has nine points, St. Kitts and Nevis has five points, Puerto Rico has two points, and St. Lucia has no points.



While Canada and Puerto Rico kick off at 19.00 on 11 October, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Lucia kick off one hour later on the same evening. Regardless of the Canada scoreline, a St. Kitts and Nevis draw or win will also eliminate Puerto Rico. If Canada wins, St. Kitts and Nevis will need at minimum a draw or else it too will be eliminated from FIFA World Cup Qualifiers™.



Should both Canada and St. Kitts and Nevis win on Tuesday 11 October, the outcome of the group standings will then only be determined in November. The two sides will finish group play in a home-and-away series: the Friday 11 November match will be played at Warner Park Football Stadium in Basseterre; the Tuesday 15 November match will be played at BMO Field in Toronto.