WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT TEAM CANADA’S MEN’S SOCCER TEAM FOR A SECOND

SportsBeat!

Written by Aaron Cantin

Something special is going on with Canada's men's soccer team and it may very well result in Canada earning a spot in the World Cup.

Last night's landmark 2-1 victory over legacy power Mexico on the frozen tundra of "Iceteca" (aka Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium) vaulted Canada into first place in the final round of World Cup qualifying for the CONCACAF region. With eight matches down and six to go, Canada's men's first World Cup berth since 1986 is more than just in reach. It's now this team's to lose. Here’s a look at the CONCACAF standings after eight games.

Source: Martin Bazyl/Canada Soccer

Source: Google / ESPN

Here’s how the standings work - the eight remaining teams in CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean) are in the midst of playing each other once at home and once away, for a total of 14 matches. When this ends, in late March, the top three teams will be awarded a spot in the World Cup. The fourth-place team can still get in by winning a two-leg playoff against someone from another continent, but that opponent could be from Europe or South America making it quite difficult.

Last night's win over Mexico, coupled with the United States' disappointing 1-1 draw at Jamaica, pushed Canada past the two highest-ranked teams in the region and into first place in the standings. But even though the Canadians are the only unbeaten team, their lead is razor-thin. Canada has 16 points. The U.S. has 15. Mexico and Panama both have 14. Then there's a big drop-off to Costa Rica with 9.

So, it looks like we have four teams fighting for those three direct tickets to the World Cup. And just two points is the difference between being in the first place and being relegated to that intercontinental playoff.

But there has been a seismic power shift within CONCACAF during this year's final round of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as evidenced by Canada's epic 2-1 win over the Mexicans on a frigid Tuesday night before 44,212 spectators at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium. Cyle Larin was the star of the show. He scored both goals to move him into a tie with Dwayne De Rosario as Canada's all-time leading scorer, with 22 goals apiece. For the first time, well, ever the star-names were wearing the Canadian jersey, not the Mexican. Then there’s Alphonso Davies. Currently the starting left-back from Bayern Munich, the young speedster has the largest price tag of any left-back in the world with transfrmarkt.com reporting it would cost over 92 million euros to acquire his signature from the Bavarian giants. Not bad for a kid from Edmonton whose claim to fame was with the Vancouver Whitecaps (they sold him two years ago to Bayern Munich for $22 million). Saying this, the job is far from finished for Canada to book its ticket to Qatar in 2022. Here’s what lies ahead.

Canada has to play away from home in four of its last six games, with tricky road trips to Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama. Visits to Central America have ended Canada's World Cup dreams before, so nothing can be taken for granted. However Canada's two toughest-looking matches — at Mexico and at the United States — are already out of the way, both resulting in 1-1 draws that can be viewed as victories for Canada, considering the difficulty of earning points on the road against higher-ranked opponents in international soccer. Plus, the Canadians have won their two hardest home matchups so far — the one last night against Mexico, and last month vs. Panama, in which Canada pounded 4-1. Canada has also beaten fifth-place Costa Rica 1-0 and seventh-place El Salvador 3-0 at home.

On the negative side, there was a disappointing 0-0 draw at sixth-place Jamaica — though that looks a little better after the Jamaicans tied the U.S. on Tuesday. Canada's only really bad result so far was a 1-1 tie at home vs. last-place Honduras, which is still looking for its first win. But that was way back in September in the opening match of this round. Canada has since picked up steam and seems to be getting stronger and stronger.

The six remaining matches will be played in two windows, starting in late January. First, Canada visits Honduras on Jan. 27, hosts the United States on Jan. 30, and visits El Salvador on Feb. 2. For the final window, in late March, Canada visits Costa Rica and Panama and hosts Jamaica. Earning positive results on the road is notoriously difficult in CONCACAF, which features some truly hostile environments. Some of the war stories include 3 a.m. fire alarms at the team hotel, scuffles with machine-gun-toting guards, and bags of urine raining down from the stands. This Canadian team proved its toughness with last month's 1-1 draw at Estadio Azteca, the massive Mexico City stadium that's feared for its punishing blend of heat, altitude and boisterous fans. Earning a point there was huge. The last time a Canadian men's team did so was in 1980. But Canada still hasn't won on the road in this final round — though it hasn't lost either, picking up a draw in all three away matches. Either way, you look at it Canada is in poll position to qualify for their first World Cup berth since 1980.