History is there for the taking for the Canada men's national team, as head coach John Herdman's group enters the final window of Concacaf World Cup Qualifying on the precipice of a milestone first World Cup berth since 1986.
Through their strong form during Octagonal play, Canada have put themselves in an enviable position atop the table with 25 points from 11 matches and are still the only remaining undefeated team in the region. With as much buzz as ever around the program, it's lining up to be a celebratory end.
Canada can officially clinch that Qatar 2022 spot as soon as Thursday night's road matchup at Costa Rica in multiple scenarios, the simplest of which would be a three-point result that would punch their ticket outright. But a draw combined with a Panama loss or draw with Honduras and a US men's national team loss or draw against Mexico also stamps their ticket to Qatar.
Here's everything you need to know about that first matchup.
When
- Thursday, March 24 | 10:05 pm ET
Where
- Estadio Nacional de Costa | San Jose, Costa Rica
How to watch and stream
- Paramount+, Sportsnet, OneSoccer
Costa Rica
Costa Rica are on the outside looking in heading into the home stretch, but not by much. Los Ticos are currently in fifth place with 16 points, just one off of Panama's pace for the fourth-place spot that provides a spot in an intercontinental playoff with the Oceania qualifier for a spot in Qatar. It's not unthinkable Costa Rica could even break into the top three should they stack positive results and get help elsewhere, giving them everything to play for.
MLS players on Costa Rica's roster include San Jose Earthquakes defender Francisco Calvo and FC Cincinnati fullback Ronald Matarrita.
Luis Fernando Suárez's group is also in form, going 3W-0L-1D in their last four games.
Canada
When World Cup qualifying started, not many pegged Canada to be in first place heading into the final window. Yet, that's exactly what's happened thanks to a remarkable run from Herdman's squad, which is loaded with world-class talent and plays with impressive chemistry and camaraderie. It's proven to be a winning combination; with their goal on the horizon, Les Rouges will look to close out the final window of qualifying in style.
This group no doubt would like to finish off the cycle in the No. 1 spot in the Octagonal, both for bragging rights and as a statement that they're now the top team in Concacaf. Should they clinch on Thursday, it would be hard to deny them that distinction.
While Alphonso Davies remains out for Canada, there's plenty of firepower remaining through the likes of Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Tajon Buchanan.
