The Canadian men's national team suffered their first loss since July after falling 1-0 to Costa Rica following Mark-Anthony Kaye’s sending off in the 34th minute.
The setback means Canada must wait until Sunday to automatically qualify for their first World Cup in 36 years when facing Jamaica at Toronto FC's BMO Field (4 pm ET | Paramount+, OneSoccer, Sportsnet).
Here are three takeaways from the team’s first loss of the Concacaf Octagonal stage.
For the first time in Concacaf World Cup qualifying, Canada experienced some unwanted firsts.
It was their first defeat of the Ocho, which ends an 11-match unbeaten run dating back to the Gold Cup semifinals when Les Rouges lost at the death to Mexico.
Despite the loss, Canada still had a chance to book their spot in Qatar. Panama drew 1-1 with Honduras at home, so all they needed was the US men’s national team to lose in Mexico to secure a berth. Ultimately, though, those two fierce rivals split the points in a 0-0 draw.
To Canada’s credit, they recorded a few quality chances in the second half. Former New England Revolution star Tajon Buchanan latched onto a terrific diagonal from Stephen Eustaquio before Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas charged off his line to make a crucial save. Minutes later, Jonathan David showed off his flair with a decisive final pass that was blocked inches away from goal and smacked a late shot off the post. Buchanan also had two brilliant opportunities on a pair of loose balls in the box in the 73rd minute but could not convert.
“We could have stayed there till 2 am, 3 am,” Canada head coach John Herdman quipped. “We won 17 games, we’ve set the other side of the table and tonight I think the football gods were not going to give us what we need. So maybe it's in the stars – qualifying at home, and it's given us the extra motivation.”
The silver lining is the pressure is off Canada to finish qualifying unbeaten and they can potentially celebrate a World Cup berth at home.
The turning point was Kaye’s sending off after picking up a second yellow card in the 34th minute.
Truth be told, Kaye was fortunate to stay on the pitch for 34 minutes. His first booking went to Video Review after he caught Ronald Matarrita with his studs. Referees adjudged that the booking was the correct call, so the Colorado Rapids midfielder escaped with a yellow.
But it was all for naught. After jawing with Johan Venegas, Kaye pushed his shoulder into Venegas and left the referee with no choice but to send off the Canadian midfielder.
“I just had a moment with him and said ‘look for all we’ve learned, pressure does things to people, it's normal, and we love you. You're our brother, and we move forward. We'll fight again together.' That was it," Herdman said.
“The lad is devastated. Absolutely devastated. He knows what that meant.”
Kaye is a fiery player and thrives when he has that bravado. But he seldom crosses the line, and no Canadian player had done the same during qualifying until Thursday night.
Another consolation was the performance of Atiba Hutchinson. The 39-year-old veteran was deployed as a center back/midfielder hybrid, operating in between CF Montréal defender Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller in a 3-5-2 shape when Canada had possession, then partnering Miller in a 4-4-2 formation off the ball.
Hutchinson hadn’t been deployed as a center back for Canada since the 2019 Gold Cup group stage. It wasn’t very obvious with how well he orchestrated the team’s buildup from the defensive third and a colossal piece of defending to stop Joel Campbell on a breakaway.
In total, Hutchinson completed 88 of 92 passes, had nine recoveries, three tackles and one interception while only conceding a single foul.
No one deserves to see Canada at a World Cup more than Hutchinson. Unfortunately, the wait continues for a few more days but the captain can take solace in how he performed in an unfamiliar role.
