Key man...Mexico midfielder Edson AlvarezBack on the big
stage...yet USA must
improve for QatarWORLD SERVICEIslands, Aruba and Suriname. It was
a procession forJohn Herdman’s side
as they won all four games, scoring 27
goals and conceding just once. In the
second round play-off, they breezed
past Haiti with a 4-0 aggregate win.
In the past, the Canadians have
struggled with the transition from
playing the confederation’s minnows, to
facing regional heavyweights USA and
Mexico at the business end of qualifying.
But memorable home wins at home
against both those sides, along with1-1
draws in Nashville and Mexico City, show
how effectively Herdman and his players
met that challenge.
Their first defeat didn’t arrive
until March, in Costa Rica, but they
followed that up with a convincing
4-0 win againstJamaica in Toronto,
mathematically securing qualification
in front of a jubilant home crowd.
Much of the focus had been on
young stars Alphonso Davies,Jonathan
David and Tajon Buchanan, but it was
striker Cyle Larin, scoring goals in big
games, who was arguably Canada’s
most important player.
Larin led goalscoring in the octagonal
with six, taking his overall tally to13
across the three
rounds, overtaking
Dwayne De Rosario
to become the all-
time top goalscorer
forCanada’s men’s
team in the process.
Across the rest of
the world, only Ali Mabkhout of the
United Arab Emirates scored more
(14) times on the road to Qatar.
Though United States and Mexico
had to wait until the final game to
confirm qualification, in truth, they
were all but through by that time.
Despite the United States’ loss
to Costa Rica in their last match,
Gregg Berhalter’s men still qualified
automatically in third, returning to
the global stage after failing to
qualify in 2018.
The Costa Ricans celebrated their
victory, but they will have to get past
New Zealand in the inter-confederational
play-off to reach their third consecutive
World Cup. Given they only won once in
their first seven games, finishing fourth
was itself a big achievement. Theysubsequently won six of their last
seven, drawing the other in Mexico,
to pip Panama to the play-off place.
Their win in the final game saw them
finish level on points with the US, but
behind them on goal difference.
It was an unconvincing campaign for
Mexico, especially in attack, but they still
finished level on points with Canada
and will be heading
for their eighth
consecutive World
Cup. Unlike thePlay-offs bound...
Costa Rica players
celebrate after
beating USACanadians, Gerardo Martino’s side
struggled to find star quality. But their
defence, plus midfielder Edson Alvarez,
contributed to a solid if unspectacular
qualification record.
Elsewhere, there was disappointment
forJamaica who recruited well, calling
up the likes of Ravel Morrison, Andre
Gray and Michail Antonio, but only won
two games, showing that finding eligible
players is only part of the battle.
These will be the last qualifiers
Canada, Mexico and the United States
play for some time, given they are joint
hosts of the 2026 tournament. For the
rest, that tournament presents a golden
opportunity to feature on the global
stage – many for the first time.
As for Qatar, Mexico and USA have
plenty to improve upon between now
and the tournament in November, while
Canada look set to be one of the most
exciting and intriguing teams at the finals.
Full table and results on page 94.The headlines belong to Canada, who began
this qualifying cycle as the seventh best team
in CONCACAF, according to the FIFA rankings,
and ended it top of the qualifying table