Canadian Football UPDATE:
The Canadian Men’s National Soccer Team absolutely pumped The Carmen Islands today in World Cup qualifying - breaking the previous record of 8-0 of most goals scored against a team. The Caymen Islands are ranked 198 out of 210 teams in FIFA, so this isn’t a huge shock all things considered…
However, this bodes well for us because it’s unlikely anyone will catch up to our goals for during qualifying and should push us through to the next round with ease, where the quality of teams becomes a lot more difficult and sees several teams ranked within the top 30 in the world - of which we aren’t currently.
The other plus is that this shows just how competent our attack is. We have a young side, that’s lead by some veterans in their thirties that are still performing in European leagues. This is always a good recipe for a team. It’s been 35 years since we last qualified and I dare say the options our national team coach has to draw upon are the best we’ve ever had.
Names like Atiba Hutchinson, Junior Howlett, Alphonso Davies, Scott Airdrie, etc. are names that most football fans in Europe are familiar with. We also have some very young players just coming through the ranks in Europe.
I remain optimistic and hopeful that we’ll actually qualify! I don’t think we’re good enough to beat Mexico, but we’ve proven we can beat the US and I think we can get through other CONCACAF staples like Panama, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica. Haiti, Jamaica and Aruba have all shown they can be tough too as those nations have worked hard to build their programs, but on paper I think we’re still superior.
Obviously we won’t play all of those teams, but I think this is the beginning of us having the best chance we’ve had in years to at least qualify through a playoff round. 2026 is going to see us even better when we co-host the World Cup and that has me truly excited!
