Canada men's soccer: Phoneys will be sniffed out, and kicked out
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For Canadian soccer fans, the Iceteca was more than just the seminal moment in Canada's incipient and unexpected run to the World Cup. It was magical.
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Cyle Larin's brace. Sam Adekugbe's effervescent leap into the pile of sideline snow. The -9°C temperatures. The first win in 45 years over Mexico in a World Cup qualifier. The emergence as The Team to beat in North America.
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The 2-1 triumph, the first over Mexico in 20 years, boosted Les Rouges atop the qualifying table. It was 376 days before Canada would ultimately kick off against Belgium at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, their first trip to the tournament since 1986.
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The one-year countdown to the 2026 World Cup ticked over in a grand ceremony and clock unveiling at B.C. Place this past Wednesday, the same stadium Canada will play its first game of the Gold Cup tournament against Honduras on Tuesday.
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The stakes are different this time. In 2021, it was excitement and a team oozing with confidence, having overcome incredible odds to emerge as the region's best team.
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The confidence is still there, but those plucky, fabulous underdogs have grown up.
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'A lot of the guys have experience from the last World Cup and we just need to keep that same rhythm we had throughout that year and bring it in to the World Cup. … We want to do something special there,' said forward Cyle Larin. 'I think the more you do well, the more that people expect. When you start playing better, doing well, scoring goals, winning games … it's (raised) expectations. And the more we go up in the rankings in the world … people expect more. That's the level we want.'
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In qualifying for the last World Cup, Canada had to basically start from scratch when the process was changed because of COVID. The top four-ranked CONCACAF teams got a bye into the final round — the eight-team Octagonal — while Canada had to scratch and claw its way through two preliminary rounds. The team responded by setting a slew of records, including an unprecedented 17-game unbeaten streak, as they stormed through the field, eventually finishing as Kings of CONCACAF.
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As a host nation for 2026, there will be no qualifying drama. Their spot is assured. Their focus is solely on winning, momentum and peaking in the summer of 2026.
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'I think everybody knows how important this summer is and what it means for next summer,' head coach Jesse Marsch said. 'I've explained my feelings about this tournament to the team over the last months, but I didn't really have to. They all said to me, 'We're coming. We want to win it.' And so that's a big statement, but that's how they feel. And I'm glad that I coach a team that feels that way.'
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