Brief Overview
The Canada men's national soccer team represents Canada in international soccer competitions at the senior men's level. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association and compete in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).
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Their most significant achievements are winning the 1985 CONCACAF Championship to qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup and winning the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup to qualify for the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. Canada also won a gold medal in the 1904 Summer Olympics. The 1986 World Cup was their only successful qualification campaign in their history.
Football was being played in Canada with the Dominion Football Association (1877)and Western Football Association(1880) acting as precursors to the modern-day Canadian Soccer Association. In 1885, the WFA sent a representative team to New Jersey to take on a side put forth by the American Football Association, the then-unofficial governing body of the sport in the United States. In an unofficial friendly, Canada defeated their hosts 1–0 in East Newark, New Jersey. The American team won 3–2 in are turn match one year later. In 1888, a team represented the Western Football Association in a tour of the British Isles, earning a record of nine wins, five draws,and nine losses. The squad comprised 16 Canadian-born players with the only exception being tour organizer David Forsyth, who had immigrated to Canada one year after his birth.
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In 1904 Galt Football Club represented the WFA at the Olympic Games in St Louis, Missouri. As just one of three teams competing, Galt defeated two American clubs, Christian Brothers College (7–0) and St.Rose (4–0) to win the tournament.
The Canadian national team toured Australia in 1924, playing a series of "test"friendlies against their hosts, including their first official match,a 3–2 friendly defeat to the Australian national football team in Brisbane, Queensland on June 7, 1924.
1981 through 1985 saw Canada develop under the guidance of English manager Tony Waiters. So close in 1981, Waiters would see the Maple Leafs through to their first World Cup finals appearance in 1985. A 1–1 away draw to Guatemala was key in allowing them to eliminate Los Chapines in the first round group. The second round was also closely contested, in part as this Canadian squad was strong defensively but had limited ability to score goals. The Canucks managed to eke out a 1–0 away win over Honduras, thanks to a George Pakos winner, hold Costa Rica scoreless in San José, and then in their final game,one they needed to draw to qualify, beat Los Catrachos a second time, 2–1 in St. John's, Newfoundland, with Pakos and Igor Vrablic the goal scorers.
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The victory not only secured their first World Cup finals berth, but also the crown of CONCACAF champions for the first time, although Mexico did not compete, having already qualified automatically for the World Cup as hosts.
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At the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Canada impressed defensively in their first game, allowing few chances and conceding a late Jean-Pierre Papin goal to lose to France 0–1.They lost their next two matches to both Hungary and the USSR 0–2, however, to finish at the bottom of their group.
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The Canadian Soccer Association turned to a German to lead the senior national team in 1999 with the signing of Holger Osieck. Success came rather quickly with Canada winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup in February 2000. After emerging from the first round on a coin-toss tiebreaker with invited side Republic of Korea, the Canucks scored a quarter-final extra-time upset win over Mexico on Richard Hastings' golden goal. The win set the stage for an unprecedented run to the final, where Canada defeated Colombia 2–0 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. Canada swept the awards ceremony, with goalkeeper Craig Forrest winning MVP honours, Carlo Corazzin securing the Golden Boot and Hastings named Rookie of the Tournament.
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Winning the Gold Cup earned Canada a place in the 2001 Confederations Cup, where the highlight was holding Brazil to a 0–0 draw. The Gold Cup victory also won them an invitation to compete in the Copa América 2001.When security concerns prompted the cancellation of the tournament,Canada disbanded their training camp and Canadian players returned to their club teams. The tournament was then reinstated and held on schedule. The Canadian Soccer Association announced they would not be able to participate in the reinstated tournament.
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Stephen Hart's first competitive action as the full-time head coach was a poor showing at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, not managing to get out of the group stage.However, during the early stages qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, Canada put up a string of good results. They topped their group in the second round but were eliminated in the third round of CONCACAF qualifying, finishing one point behind Honduras and Panama after losing 8–1 in Honduras on the final match day.
Benito Floro was hired in 2013 changed the Canadian Culture but was sacked in 2016 after a disappointing Gold Cup campaign in 2015, not qualifying to Copa America Centenario and Olympics and not qualfying to the "Hex" in the World Cup qualifying.
Canada plays in many cities around the nation including BMO Field (Toronto), Olympic Stadium (Montreal), BC Place (Vancouver), etc.