Canada face Curaçao on Saturday in wide open group in Concacaf Nations League

Canada can move one win closer to taking top honours in Group C in Concacaf Nations League A on Saturday night, but it is still a wide open group in which Canada, Saturday opponents Curaçao and Tuesday opponents Honduras could all finish even on six points from four group matches each. A Canada win or draw in Willemstad, however, will eliminate Curaçao and relegate them to League B while setting up a Canada-Honduras clash for top honours on Tuesday night in Toronto.
 
#CANMNT squad: https://canadasoccer.com/national/camps/?camp_id=1567
 
Group winners will advance to the Concacaf Nations League Finals from 15-18 June in Las Vegas, a four-nation series featuring the four group winners from League A competition. Group winners and runners up also qualify for the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup while the last-place finishers are relegated to League B.

“This is a strong Curaçao team, they have added new players since the last time we played in June which has strengthened their squad,” said John Herdman, Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach. “It is a big test given how they motivated they are, but we enjoy coming into these tough environments. We will look to use those experiences from World Cup Qualifiers on winning and getting results on the road.”
 
Win, draw or lose on Saturday night, Canada will remain in position to finish first overall in Group C. A win or a draw in Willemstad, however, will guarantee a top-two finish in Group C, which means qualification to the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup.
 
Canada (1W-0D-1L) have the two matches remaining in their League A Group C schedule while their opponents Curaçao (1-0-2) and first-place Honduras (2-0-1) have one match left each. Canada play away against Curaçao on Saturday 25 March (21.00 local) and then back home against Honduras on Tuesday 28 March (20.00 local). Both of Canada’s matches will be broadcast live on OneSoccer, available as a linear channel on Telus’ Optik TV (Channel 980) as well as online at OneSoccer.ca, through the OneSoccer app and on the fuboTV Canada platform. Fans will find extended coverage for the matches across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube featuring the hashtag #CANMNT.
 
Tuesday night in Toronto will be Canada’s first home match since the Men’s National Team’s historic run to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. Canada were the Kings of Concacaf in 2022, having finished first overall in the Concacaf Final Round of FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers from September 2021 to March 2022. Across FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers, Canada posted 14 wins, four draws and just two losses over three rounds as they became the first nation from the region to qualify for Qatar with a 4:0 home win on 27 March 2022 in Toronto.
 
“The last time we played in Toronto in March, we qualified for the FIFA World Cup. This is just the start of the journey and we hope the fans that were there celebrating will support us on our first step towards our home FIFA World Cup preparations for 2026,” said Herdman.

Across FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers, Canada posted 14 wins, four draws and just two losses over three rounds as they became the first nation from the region to qualify for Qatar with a 4:0 home win on 27 March 2022 in Toronto. Canada scored a Men’s National Team record 54 goals across the cycle while Cyle Larin set the Canadian record for goals (13), Alphonso Davies set the Canadian record for assists (eight), and Milan Borjan set the Canadian record for clean sheets (nine). Of note, both Larin (13) and Jonathan David (nine) were the top-two goalscorers across all Concacaf nations in 2021-22 FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers.
 
Throughout the qualifying campaign, Canada set numerous team and individual records, also setting a Concacaf record for the longest undefeated streak in a FIFA World Cup™ Qualifiers campaign. Canada set their own Men’s National Team records for consecutive wins (eight) and longest home undefeated streak (14 matches). Across 2021, Canada were the “Most Improved Side” on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings.