Canada's getting screwed by FIFA's inflexible World Cup schedule
For the first time ever, a host nation at the FIFA World Cup will have to play outside its own borders.
After three group-stage matches at home, in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada is heading to Los Angeles for the Round of 32, where they’ll face South Africa.
My question is, why?
The World Cup knockout round schedule is unnecessarily rigid.
If Canada finished first in Group B, they would play in Vancouver. Instead, they finished second, which means they go to L.A. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Other tournaments find a way to get host nations playing in favourable time slots and stadiums.
Case in point: when Canada finished second in its group at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics in men’s hockey. It didn’t matter where Canada finished; the schedule included stipulations that Canada would play at 4:30 p.m. at Rogers Arena if it made the quarter-final and 6:30 p.m. in the semi-final.
There wasn’t a scenario that allowed for Team Canada to play a game at the smaller UBC arena (as Finland and the Czech Republic did), or at noon on a weekday (as the USA did twice).
Canada and Mexico didn’t get same accommodations that U.S. did
After matches in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada’s heading to Los Angeles. (Anne-Marie Sorvin/Imagn Images)
Daily Hive asked midfielder Ali Ahmed if he wished something could have been done to allow for Canada to continue playing at home, despite the second-place finish.
“We had an opportunity, you tie today, and we could have stayed here in Vancouver,” Ahmed said, before stopping himself.
“If the U.S. finished second, [would] they stay in the U.S.?”
That’s a good question.
The answer is that the Americans were guaranteed to play all their games in the United States, regardless of which position they finished. Win the group, and they go to San Francisco. Finish second, and go to Dallas. Even a third-place finish would have kept them at home, in either Kansas City, Boston, or New Jersey.
“If we finished second and we were able to still stay in Canada, that would have been nice, but I think we had the opportunity right in front of us to take and stay in this beautiful city that’s been amazing to us. The atmospheres have been amazing, the city has just been lively, it’s been awake. It’s been everything that we want this game to be in this country.”
Shame that it couldn’t continue.
There’s an easy solution
Canada won’t be playing at BC Place again at the FIFA World Cup. (Rob Williams/Daily Hive)
This is only the second time the men’s World Cup has had more than one host country. When Japan and South Korea shared hosting duties in 2002, the schedule was constructed to have both hosts play all their knockout round games at home. The only exceptions were for the final (Japan) and third-place match (South Korea).
So this year’s tournament is a new challenge for FIFA, but it’s one they should have envisioned.
Think about all the money that has been spent on the World Cup by the host nations. The least they could do is keep them at home for as long as possible.
Vancouver is hosting a match in the Round of 32 and Round of 16. Why not make those Canada’s matches, if they’re still alive in the tournament? It doesn’t require anyone to spend more money. You can keep Vancouver’s matches on predetermined days, just make the matchup flexible.
Canada should be playing in Vancouver, regardless of where they finished in the group stage. You can send Switzerland to L.A. instead. Or pick another matchup to move.
It’s really not hard.