Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Program in back-to-back matches on Super Thursday of Canadian Soccer

Canadian fans will have a double header of international soccer this Thursday 25 March when Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team kicks off FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers against Bermuda immediately followed by the U-23 National Team facing Honduras in an all-important Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying match. The two Canadian soccer matches will be broadcast back-to-back on OneSoccer.ca as part of a Super Thursday of international soccer coverage.

Both matches will be broadcast live starting with a pre-match show at 19.00 ET / 16.00 PT. The Canada-Bermuda match from Orlando, FL, USA kicks off at 20.00 ET / 17.00 PT while the Canada-Honduras match from Guadalajara, JA, Mexico kicks off two hours later at 22.00 ET / 19.00 PT. Fans will find extended coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube featuring the hashtag #CANMNT.

Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team has a fully committed group on the journey to Qatar 2022. The Group B match will be the first of four that Canada plays as part of the Concacaf First Round of Qualifiers and will mark the start of Canada’s return to competitive match action following a 16-month break due to the ongoing COVID pandemic.

“The environment we have right now is great within the team,” said midfielder Atiba Hutchinson. “We’re excited to have our group together again and we are looking forward to getting this campaign underway and hopefully doing something incredible for our country.”

At Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying, all four nations in Canada’s group still have a chance to advance to the Semi-Finals. El Salvador (one point, -2 goals difference) and Haiti (one point, -3 goals difference) kick off first followed by Canada (four points, +2 goals difference) against rivals Honduras (four points, +3 goals difference). Canada need a win or a draw against Honduras to ensure they control their own destiny and advance to the Concacaf semi-finals which is the region’s decisive round to qualify for the Olympic Games.

CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
In FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Canada faces their tough Concacaf opponents Bermuda in an official match for the first time since 1992. Canada are hosts for this match at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, followed by an away match against Cayman Islands in Bradenton, FL, USA on 28 March at IMG Sports Complex (16.00 ET / 13.00 PT live on OneSoccer). Canada will complete Group B play with matches against Aruba on 5 June and Suriname on 8 June.

“In Concacaf you cannot overlook any nation and we know Bermuda will be a very strong team,” said John Herdman, Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach. “They are a cohesive unit that is very clear on their tactical identity with strong team spirit. They have some players who are very experienced in Concacaf. We’ve had experience with this type of challenge in Concacaf Nations League against difficult teams so our players will have to be prepared to match the intensity and intent for the full 90 minutes.”

Like Canada, Bermuda competed in Concacaf Nations League A in 2019-20, although they were relegated after four matches against Mexico and Panama. After an opening loss at home to Panama, they won 2:0 away in Panama, lost at home against Mexico, then suffered a heartbreaking 2:1 away loss in Mexico on a 93^rd minute winner.

While Canada and Bermuda have not faced each other in official competition at the men’s international “A” level since 1992, Canada most recently won 4:2 away in Bermuda in January 2007, giving Canada an undefeated 5-4-0 edge in the all-time record between the two nations.

From the first round of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers, the Group B winner will face the Group E winner in a second-round, head-to-head series on 12 and 15 June 2021. The winner from that second round then advances to the Concacaf Final Round of eight nations in which each nation will play each opponent twice (once at home and once on the road).

FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022™ QUALIFIERS
Concacaf have established Canada’s pathway for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers beginning with a First Round being played amongst the Concacaf Member Associations ranked 6-35 based on the FIFA Men’s Ranking as of 16 July 2020. From the first round of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers, the Group B winner will face the Group E winner in a second-round, head-to-head series. The winner from that second round then advances to the Concacaf Final Round of eight nations in which each nation will play each opponent twice (once at home and once on the road).

CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM
Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team, two-time Concacaf champions, were one of only four nations that have finished top-six across all three of Concacaf major tournaments across the past three years: fifth place in Concacaf Nations League A and sixth place at both the 2017 and 2019 Concacaf Gold Cups. In 2019 against Concacaf’s top three nations, Canada earned a victory against USA in Concacaf Nations League as well as eliminated both Mexico (U-15) and Costa Rica (U-17) in Concacaf youth competitions.