Perhaps it’s still too fresh, but I’m having trouble figuring out whether I’m buoyed or disheartened by Canada’s performance at the World Cup.
The fact the boys from our home and native land were bounced from the tournament after three straight losses was definitely discouraging, but getting to the big dance for the first time in 36 years has to be considered a victory in itself. With a young nucleus that will be better for the experience, the future of soccer in Canada is as bright as it's ever been, which is a good thing because the rest of the world comes to North America four years from now.
Despite that silver lining, our country’s brief foray into that rarefied air of elite soccer has me leaning towards disappointment, but I assume that will pass with time as those eight days in Qatar will soon enough be viewed as a building block toward something bigger.
Maybe I wouldn’t feel that way if the boys hadn’t raised my expectations, but they did, both during qualifying and in the early stages of the tournament. If Canada had squeaked in with the last berth from a region that typically doesn’t make a lot of noise at the World Cup, then expectations would have been far more tempered, the goal likely being not to get embarrassed by soccer’s global powers.
But that wasn’t the case. Despite our modest world ranking, the qualification process proved we very much belonged with CONCACAF stalwarts Mexico and the United States. Belief in the cause was furthered in the opener against Belgium, a game Canada was unlucky not to get some kind of result, and during the first couple of minutes of the match with Croatia, when the home side took an early lead on an Alphonso Davies header.
Given Canada deserved a better fate after creating all kinds of chances against the No. 2 ranked team in the world and was up a goal on the 2018 finalists, it seemed too good to be true — until it wasn’t. Croatia soon proved why it’s among soccer’s elite with a clinical performance en route to a 4-1 victory.
There’s no shame in losing to such a talented side, but it felt deflating nonetheless, knowing Canada's World Cup journey had effectively come to an end, a subsequent game against Morocco notwithstanding.
I’m proud of how this group has taken soccer in Canada from the depths of the world rankings to a point where our national team belongs on the biggest of stages, so in a way I’m almost ashamed to feel any disappointment, but I guess it’s a compliment to the team that my expectations were so high. The waters were simply much deeper in Qatar, evidenced by the fact that Canada allowed as many goals in just three games at the World Cup as it did in its 14 CONCACAF qualification matches.
The Canadian side, which was loaded with 20-somethings, will undoubtedly learn from its time in the Middle East and be better off for it. I don’t want to set myself up for further disappointment, but the boys definitely have me looking forward to 2026
