The Canadian Men’s National soccer team lost 2-0 to Uruguay in their last friendly before the World Cup in Qatar.
Uruguay scored twice in the first half and never looked back. Despite the score, Canada dominated the possession 59% to 41% and outshot Uruguay 11-6.
Nicolas De La Cruz and Darwin Nunez scored for Uruguay.
The result wasn’t in Canada’s favour, but they played a strong game against a much higher ranked opponent. Uruguay will enter the World Cup ranked 13th.
Canada won their previous friendly against the host nation Qatar 2-0.
Early goals by Cyle Larin and Jonathan David helped Canada to a comfortable 2-0 victory over World Cup host Qatar in an international men's soccer friendly @CanadaSoccerENhttps://t.co/h4eE6xmkJQ
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) September 23, 2022
There are high hopes among Canadian soccer fans for this year’s club. Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, and Cyle Larin are expected to lead the way, but they are in tough being grouped with Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco. Those three are ranked 2nd, 16th and 24th.
The tournament is set to begin on November 20th in Qatar. Canada is ranked as the 38th best nation in the world. This will be only their second appearance in the tournament and their first since 1986.
Next up for Canada is an exhibition against Japan in Qatar on November 17th. Then they begin the World Cup on November 23rd with a match versus Belgium.
The Canadian side will be looking for their first win and goal in World Cup history. In ’86 they were shutout 1-0 by France, 2-0 by Hungary and 2-0 by the Soviet Union. Just winning a single game would be exciting for Canadian fans.
Of course, we would all like to see them advance out of the group stage, but few people expect that to happen. Hopefully this World Cup birth is only the beginning of Canadian soccer’s rise up the world rankings. Seeing their nation on the world stage will inspire a new generation of players that can one day play for their country.