Canada’s national team has ended a 36-year absence from the FIFA World Cup. The team secured its trip to Qatar on March 27 with a convincing 4-0 win over Jamaica. As a result, not only did Canada qualify for the World Cup, it did so by winning its qualifying CONCACAF group ahead of Mexico and USA.
With qualifiers behind, Canada looks to November in Qatar, where they will face tough opposition in the group stage. The draw placed Canada in Group F with Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco.
There are no easy opponents in the World Cup finals. Fans and much of the team feel they drew a tough group, but nothing close to what you would call a “group of death.” If you bet on sports, don’t discard Canada’s opponents in the group stage because although there is no Brazil or Germany, some of them are heavyweights in top form.
What would be a success for Canada
Canada was the 124th team in FIFA rankings in 2014. Team’s coach John Herdman now leads the national team among the top 32 countries in the most prestigious soccer tournament. Qualifying for the Qatar World Cup is already a massive success for the current 38th team in world rankings. Coach feels that Canada has an excellent opportunity in Group F, coming as an underdog with much to prove.
Going through from group stage would be a huge success, and the next opponents in the Round of 16 are probably Germany or Spain, soccer giants with five World Cups between them.
Opening with Red Devils
Although in the shadow of big names like France, Germany, Brazil, Belgium and Croatia are perennial soccer top ten teams. According to FIFA rankings, the first opponent in the tournament will be Belgium, currently the second-best team. The Belgians were holding number one before losing it to Brazil.
The Red Devils went undefeated through their qualifying group notching six wins and scoring 25 goals. Belgium reached the semi-finals but fell short against later winners France in World Cup 2018. The golden generation led by Manchester City versatile midfielder Kevin De Bruyne had a disappointing loss in the quarter-finals of the 2020 European Championship. However, they yet again lost to the tournament winners in Italy.
Thibaut Courtois on goal, Romelu Lukaku as a power forward, and the genius of Eden Hazard, who had issues with conditioning in the past couple of years, is a team capable of beating everyone. Belgium is in most matches the team others want to top. Belgium showed some issues with aging defense, but incredible midfielders and powerful attack is a tough ask for any opponent.
Runner-ups Croatia
Croatia is a small country, but with incredible soccer success. They came 3rd in their first appearance in 1998, and checkered dresses managed to top that with finals in Russia 2018. Croatia played inspired football but lost some fuel in the final against France because of two previous wins on penalties.
It all starts with Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric for Croatia. Although he is 36 years old, Modric still plays a crucial role for Real and Croatia, directing traffic and dictating the pace. Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic and Inter Milan Mateo Brozovic make the core of the mighty midfield for Croatia. They had a clear path through qualifiers with seven wins and a record of 23 points for the UEFA zone. Croatia conceded only four goals and has upcoming players in the back.
The biggest issue for the Zlatko Dalic side is the forward position, where they don’t have a natural replacement for retired Mario Mandzukic.
Morocco
Everyone in Canada sees Morocco as the most winnable game, but the 24th team in FIFA ranking is not an easy draw. The African side didn’t go through the group stage in the previous World Cup, but now they have the same core players with more experience.
Morocco stormed through qualifiers with six wins in 6 matches. However, they didn’t take a good quarter-final loss against Egypt in the African Cup of Nations. Morocco relies on Achraf Hakimi, Romain Saiss, and Yassine Bunou as the core group and will try to include Ajax star Noussair Mazraoui and Chelsea Hakim Ziyech. They didn’t go along with coach Vahid Halilhodzic.
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