Canada, Ecuador on brink of return

TORONTO • Canada can complete phase one of a remarkable rebuild when they visit Costa Rica in a World Cup qualifier today, knowing a victory would see them secure a place at the global showcase for just the second time.

Their World Cup record so far makes for dreadful reading. Only once have they qualified - in 1986, when they lost all three group games and failed to score.

The nearly four decades since have been filled with cringeworthy displays and epic failures.

But with three matches remaining in Qatar 2022 qualifying, Canada sit unbeaten atop the Concacaf standings with a four-point cushion over regional powerhouses Mexico and the United States.

The top three automatically earn spots at November's World Cup in Qatar, with the fourth-place finisher facing an Oceania team in an intercontinental play-off for another berth.

With a win in San Jose today, Canada will achieve their prime goal of securing a place at the Finals but for coach John Herdman, that would be just another step towards a greater objective - establishing the country as a football nation.

Canada are now the 33rd-best team in the world - their highest Fifa ranking.

"When we first got together as a group, it was pretty clear that we wanted to pioneer in so many ways and I think part of that was creating a new Canada as a football nation," he said on Tuesday.

"We know qualifying for a World Cup is the most important part of that but there are other things, other goals that are important to us.

"It comes back to one game at a time. We have Costa Rica sitting right in front of us. That match is everything in this moment."

Aside from 39-year-old captain Atiba Hutchinson, the Canadians have a relatively young team, with stars like Alphonso Davies of Bayern Munich and Lille's Jonathan David.

So progression to Qatar 2022 will put the team in good stead for the 2026 World Cup that Canada will co-host with the United States and Mexico.

Another team will look to break a longstanding hoodoo, this time in South American qualifying.

In eight previous World Cup qualifiers away to Paraguay, going back to 1981, Ecuador have lost every single one. But if they avoid defeat against an already eliminated team today, La Tri will qualify for Qatar with a game to spare, turning their final match at home to Argentina next week into a celebration. It was something many Ecuadorians thought impossible when the campaign began, having missed out on qualification for World Cup 2018.

"This national team deserves double the praise because you have to be very honest, 99.9 per cent of Ecuadorians did not think they would qualify," former national striker Carlos Tenorio said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS