This year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar represents the first-ever time that North American rivals the United States, Mexico, and Canada will all take part in the tournament. Canada is competing for the second time after their maiden appearance in 1986, in which they swiftly made a group stage exit – a tournament that the United States surprisingly missed out on.
The United States is a regular in the tournament. The Americans made the round of 16 stages in their two appearances prior, in 2014 and 2010, and even managed a quarterfinals run in Germany in 2006.
Mexico has qualified for every single tournament since 1986 and is arguably North America’s greatest World Cup outfit as a result. They will be expected to go the furthest out of the sides based on reputation. Fans can visit OddsNinja.com, which highlights the best odds and offers available at different bookmakers for the World Cup. It’s the ultimate guide to online bookmakers in Canada and can help you find the ideal site to place your bets this winter.
Mexico’s best appearance on record happened to take place at Canada’s tournament debut in 1986 as they reached the quarter-final stage, and they have made it beyond the groups in every tournament since. The Tricolor’s midfield generals are aging, with Andres Guardado and Houston Dynamo’s Hector Herrera being well into their 30’s now but boasting a wealth of experience between them.
Mexico’s hopes will mainly be pinned on key man Hirving Lozano; the winger delivered in 2018 netting against Germany and will be expected to perform again and will be boosted by an exceptional club season so far with Napoli including a 6-1 thrashing of Ajax which can be seen at footballitalia.net. They have a squad largely underpinned by experienced players that have navigated the World Cup stage before and will be expected to go furthest out of the North American teams for that reason.
Dos a Cero 🇺🇸 🇲🇽
Memorable Moment No. 36: The bitter rivalry between the @USMNT and Mexico continued in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, this time the USA coming out on top with the famous 2-0 scoreline! ✌️(Sponsored by @qatarairways #QatarAirways) pic.twitter.com/4TEBBkF8PC
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) October 15, 2022
But the United States has a young and exciting team stacked with talent that is littered across Europe’s top teams. AC Milan, Chelsea, Juventus, Valencia, and many more prestigious clubs play host to some of the top United States players.
The US has vital experience at the back in the form of central defender Aaron Long of the New York Red Bulls, and Jordan Morris of Seattle Sounders offers much-needed maturity and experience in an attack that is otherwise incredibly raw and youthful. Paul Arriola is also a dangerous winger who possesses bags of pace and is one of the more experienced players in the squad.
In terms of Canada’s hopes for the tournament, they will be much smaller with their three World Cup fixtures on record, all resulting in losses. Canada will simply hope to prove they are a team that will not roll over and can get results at the stellar event.
In the CONCACAF qualifying rounds, Canada finished top of the group shown at cbc.ca. If they can settle into their group in Qatar well and build some momentum, perhaps the experience of captain Atiba Hutchinson could guide their exciting up-and-comers to shock the world and reach the knockout stages or maybe even further.
"The sky is the limit" 🇨🇦
Cyle Larin speaks about our expectations heading into the @fifaworldcup in our latest episode of #DohaDreams#WeCAN #CANMNT pic.twitter.com/U8kJ4RwoOw
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) October 17, 2022
It is certainly possible that they could outdo their North American foes this year in Qatar.
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