Do or die: What Canada needs to advance to knockout round at FIFA World Cup
It’s do or die, already, for Canada at the FIFA World Cup.
Sunday’s match against Croatia is undoubtedly the biggest match in Canadian men’s soccer history.
Currently sitting last in Group F, Canada is the only team to have lost a match so far among the four countries. Despite that, the group remains wide open, with matches against Croatia and Morocco still to come for the underdog Canadians.
Canada is still looking for its first positive result in Qatar (FIFA.com)
Canada needs a win or draw against Croatia to keep their hopes of advancing to the knockout round alive. A loss would eliminate the 41st-ranked Canadians from contention.
It won’t be easy. Croatia is currently ranked 12th in the world and finished as the runner-up at the FIFA World Cup in 2018.
Thursday’s opponent, Morocco, is ranked 22nd in the world.
Canada’s head coach, John Herdman, is urging his group to play “fearless” — as they did against Belgium.
Despite losing their opening match to Belgium, confidence in Canada has grown globally, as many people believe they deserved to beat the No. 2-ranked team. Even Belgium’s coach agreed. Croatia, by contrast, earned a 0-0 draw in their first match against Morocco.
To keep Canada’s dream of advancing to the Round of 16 alive, the men’s national team needs to do something they’ve never done before at a World Cup.
Canada has never earned a win or draw at a men’s World Cup. We’ve never even scored a goal before, with losses to France (1-0), Hungary (2-0), and the Soviet Union (2-0) at Canada’s first FIFA World Cup appearance in 1986.
Needless to say, Canada has never advanced past the group stage at a men’s World Cup either.
Should Canada find a way to claim the second spot in Group F, it would set up a knockout stage match against the winner of Group E — likely Spain.
Canada and Croatia play at 11 am ET/8 am PT on Sunday, with the Belgium-Morocco match beginning three hours earlier, at 8 am ET/5 am PT. Both matches can be seen on TSN in Canada.
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