What you need to know for Canada's second crack at the World Cup
A win or draw vs. Jamaica on Sunday in Toronto does the trick
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Don't worry, Canada is still going to qualify for the World Cup
It would have been nice to make it officially official last night in Costa Rica, where it turned out the Canadian men needed only a draw. And, man, did they try. Despite playing shorthanded for the bulk of the match after a Costa Rican player induced a red card with an absurd flop, Canada peppered the home team with scoring chances throughout the second half. A cross-bar was hit, a post was dinged, but to no avail. The Canadians' admirable 1-0 loss, which snapped a 17-match undefeated streak in World Cup qualifying, left them without a ticket to Qatar.
But only for now. There's an excellent chance Canada clinches its first men's World Cup berth since 1986 on Sunday, when it hosts Jamaica at 4 p.m. ET in Toronto. Once again, a draw is all Canada needs to ensure it'll finish in the top three of its regional qualifying tournament and get a spot in the World Cup. And it's facing a Jamaican side that has won only one of its 12 games in this final round. Plus, Canada will be playing in front of a boisterous home crowd hungry to witness history.
But, fine, let's entertain the doomsday scenario. Say Canada gets upset by Jamaica and fourth-place Costa Rica wins at El Salvador a few hours later. That would put the Costa Ricans three points behind Canada with one match to play. A win is worth three points, so in order to pull even Costa Rica would have to beat the United States on Wednesday and hope Canada loses to Panama. Then it would come down to goal differential. Canada is currently plus-13. Costa Rica is only plus-2. It ain't happening.
Having said all that, you don't want to just back into your first World Cup in 36 years. It would be much more satisfying for Canada to clinch with a result (preferably a win) in front of its long-suffering fans on Sunday. And extra-satisfying if Canada can finish first in the CONCACAF standings — ahead of the region's traditional powers, the United States and Mexico, who are both three points (one win) behind Canada after battling to a 0-0 draw last night in Mexico City.
Also, these matches count in the world rankings, and a higher position means (at least in theory) easier opponents at the World Cup. Fast-rising Canada is currently ranked an all-time-high 33rd in the world, so it's eyeing a spot in the third of four "pots" that teams will be placed in for next Friday's 32-team World Cup draw. The rankings will be updated Thursday, after CONCACAF qualifying is completed.
Canada vs. Jamaica is just one of four crucial CONCACAF qualifiers happening Sunday. The aforementioned Costa Rica at El Salvador match kicks off at 5 p.m. ET, while Mexico visits sixth-place El Salvador and the U.S. hosts fifth-place Panama, both at 7 p.m. ET. The Panamanians can no longer catch Canada, but they're a reachable four points behind the U.S. and Mexico for a top-three spot and a direct ticket to the World Cup. Panama trails Costa Rica by just one point for fourth place, which comes with a second chance to reach the World Cup via a one-game playoff vs. the winner of the Oceania region.
Abroad, the big story is Italy's shocking elimination from the World Cup with yesterday's 1-0 loss to tiny North Macedonia. The four-time World Cup winners were expected to set up a winner-take-all showdown with Portugal on Tuesday that would result in one of the European powers missing the World Cup, which would have been stunning enough. Instead, the reigning European champions will (somehow) miss their second consecutive World Cup after giving up a goal in injury time yesterday in Palermo. "We are all destroyed and broken," said Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini.
Read more about Canada's defeat last night and the lessons it can learn from it in this piece by CBC Sports contributor Chris Jones, who was in Costa Rica for the match.
Quickly...
It was a tough night for Canadians on the basketball court too. Just before the ill-fated soccer match kicked off, Canada's Andrew Nembhard and his top-ranked Gonzaga team were upset by Arkansas in the third round of the NCAA men's tournament. The Sweet 16 also turned sour for Canadian star Bennedict Mathurin and Arizona. The second-ranked team in the bracket got manhandled by Houston, with Mathurin held to 15 points after scoring 30 in the previous round. Another Canadian was bounced when Caleb Houstan's Michigan squad lost to Villanova. That leaves just one key Canadian in the tournament — 7-foot-4 Purdue centre Zach Edey, who will try to help the Boilermakers quash Cinderella Saint Peter's tonight at 7:09 p.m. ET. Two significant Canadian contributors made it to the women's Sweet 16, which tips off tonight when Laeticia Amihere's top-ranked South Carolina plays North Carolina at 7. On Saturday, Aaliyah Edwards and UConn face Indiana at 2 p.m. ET.
Canada is into the playoffs at the women's curling world championship. Today's win over Germany clinched a spot for Kerri Einarson's team, which is now in second place at 8-3. The top two teams get a bye to the semifinals, so Canada will be looking to lock that down when it plays its round-robin finale tonight at 7 p.m. ET vs. the Czech Republic.
And finally…
Canada had a memorable day at the figure skating world championships.
Yesterday, Eric Radford and Vanessa James capitalized on the absence of the Beijing Olympics' top five pairs to grab a bronze at the worlds in France. It's the fifth world-championship medal for Radford, who won two gold and two bronze with Meagan Duhamel before they split up following their Olympic bronze in 2018.
Duhamel, who's now working as an analyst for CBC Sports, found herself involved in the spiciest story of the worlds when a British commentator, not realizing his mic was on, referred to her as "that bitch from Canada." The commentator and his broadcast partner, who both made some rude comments about other skaters, were suspended by figure skating's governing body.
Today, Olympic dance champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France placed first in the opening segment as they seek to win their fifth world title in what's expected to be their final competition together. At our publish time, the women's free skate was in progress, with Japan's Kaori Sakamoto looking to hold onto the lead and Canada's Madeline Schizas hoping to move up from 10th. If you read this before 5 p.m. ET, you can catch the conclusion here.
The worlds close Saturday with the men's free at 6 a.m. ET and the dance free at noon ET. Watch them live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
This weekend on CBC Sports
Along with the figure skating world championships, you can watch the U Sports national championships in women's hockey, men's and women's volleyball and swimming; plus the World Cup finals in ski and snowboard slopestyle, and beach volleyball. See the full streaming and broadcast schedule here.
You're up to speed. Have a good weekend.
