Herdman says he shouldn't have gone to World Cup after sister's tragic death

Former Canadian men’s national team head coach John Herdman has opened up about his regrets about staying in the job throughout last year’s FIFA World Cup.

Named to the job in 2018 and leading the team to its first FIFA World Cup since 1986, Herdman ultimately stuck with the Canadian side until this past August when he left for the head coaching role at Toronto FC.

But in a new interview with CBC’s Players’ Own Voice host Anastasia Bucsis, Herdman admitted that the death of his sister was seriously affecting his mental health while in Qatar — and that he wishes he’d stepped down from the job prior to the tournament.

“I had just lost my sister to suicide, and it really, really hurt, and it was for a period of time. I’ve never been hurt like that,” Herdman told Bucsis. “I’d always been the fixer in my family, and I couldn’t fix it. So coming out with World Cup qualification, it was like the highest high, then down to the worst experience that I had in my life.”

Herdman added that he wishes he could’ve done more to save his sister’s life.

“She’d reached out for help when I was at the Gold Cup [in 2021]. And I didn’t help in the way I could have,” Herdman said.

Despite finishing on top of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying group, Canada lost all three of its matches in Qatar, bowing out in the group stage.

Herdman had been the organization’s most successful coach in decades, leading Canada from relative international obscurity onto the world’s largest stage. Having also served as the women’s national team head coach, Herdman won bronze medals at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics before being named to the men’s job.

Although there were rumours following the World Cup qualification process that he’d be leaving the job for either another international team or a club position, Herdman stayed in the job despite his reservations.

“I shouldn’t have went,” Herdman added. “I just knew. I knew Canada, from an organizational perspective, we weren’t ready. We weren’t ready.”

A clip of the interview is available below, while the full interview is available on all major podcast platforms.

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