TORONTO – Losses don’t come much bigger or with more grave consequences for the Canadian men’s team than the one it suffered on a chilly and drizzling Tuesday night at BMO Field.
A shocking 3-2 defeat to Jamaica before an announced crowd of 17, 588 spectators was a devastating gut punch to Canada in its crucial 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League qualifying playoff.
Canada looked to be in firm control of the game and the series when it took a 1-0 lead into halftime of Tuesday’s affair courtesy of a sublime goal from Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies. But the visitors rebounded from a poor opening 45 minutes in which their defence was routinely shredded by Canada’s dynamic attack by taking firm control of the contest in the second half and scoring three times to stun the hosts.
The two-legged series finished 4-4 on aggregate, but the Jamaicans won the series on the away goals rule after losing 2-1 in the first leg at home on Saturday. Tuesday’s win means the Reggae Boyz clinched a berth for the 2024 Nations League finals in Texas in March and next summer’s Copa América (to be hosted across the United States) at the expense of the Canadians who only needed a draw in this return match to qualify for both international competitions.
Canada is eliminated from Nations League contention and would need to win a one-game playoff next March against another Concacaf nation in order to qualify for the South American championship.
Tuesday’s defeat snapped Canada’s 22-game unbeaten run at BMO Field which included 15 wins. Its previous loss there was a 2-0 defeat vs. Peru in a friendly on Sept. 4, 2010. So, the Canadians picked a hell of a time to come up short.
Interim coach Mauro Biello didn’t mince words when asked in the post-match press conference about what failing to qualify for the Nations League finals means for Canada.
“It’s a blow. It’s a blow. We talk about getting to the next level. We talk about the standards and can we get it. You gotta get to these tournaments. You gotta get to the finals. That’s maintaining the standard and exceeding standards,” Biello said.
Likewise, midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye didn’t hold back.
“It’s tough, man. Everything that this program can be, it hinges on our performances and our ability to win games. The fact that we lost this opportunity, yeah, it’s going to hinder us and we’re going to feel it,” Kaye admitted.
This has been a rough year for the Canadian men’s team. Qualification for last year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar was a major accomplishment, but Canada hasn’t built upon it and has suffered one letdown after another in the subsequent 11 months.
The Reds let a golden opportunity to win their first trophy in 23 years slip through their fingers when they put forth a tame effort in a 2-0 loss to the U.S. in the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League finals in June. Another loss to the Americans the following month ended Canada’s disappointing Concacaf Gold Cup run at the quarter-final stage.
Matters off the pitch haven’t been much better. An ongoing dispute with Canada Soccer over a new collective bargaining agreement continues on with no end in sight. John Herdman stepped down as coach in August after five years at the helm. The governing body still needs to find a new general secretary to replace Earl Cochrane who quit in April. Former captain Jason de Vos currently occupies the role on an interim basis. Until Cochrane’s full-time successor is hired, which is expected by the end of the year, the long-term future of Biello remains unclear.
While other Concacaf nations were in action in September, the Canadian men’s team took the month off and only played one friendly last month (an embarrassing 4-1 road loss to Japan) when most counties had two games because of the continuing financial pinch that Canada Soccer finds itself in.
So, this aggregate loss to Jamaica is a devastating setback for a program that was desperately looking to play meaningful games and for an injection of stability in the short-term.
Simply put, Canada needed to book its spot at the Nations League finals. The last shreds of momentum from competing at last year’s World Cup have disappeared into thin air, and the men’s team runs the risk of becoming forgotten amidst an ever-growing Canadian sports landscape.
Clinching a Copa América berth is now an absolute must for Canada, ranked No. 45 in the world. A chance to play World Cup champions Argentina (No. 1), Brazil (No. 3), Uruguay (No. 15), Colombia (No. 17) and other South American giants is exactly what Canada needs after stagnating during its post-Qatar comedown.
Canada has to test itself against the world’s elite nations, and not just the best that Concacaf has to offer, if it’s going to reach that next level and be a competitive force when it co-hosts the 2026 World Cup with the U.S. and Mexico.
It’s one thing for Canada’s best players – Davies, forwards Cyle Larin and Jonathan David, and influential midfielder Stephen Eustáquio to name a few – to go up against their Concacaf counterparts on a regular basis. It’s quite another to see them face the world’s top stars, most of whom come from outside of Concacaf. How can they possibly get better for the national team unless they go up against the very best that international soccer has to offer?
That’s why qualification for Copa América is massively important for Canada. Failure to clinch a berth for the South American championship would send a program already teetering on the brink of irrelevance over the edge.
“We still have our shot to make it to Copa América. I said before that our goal is to win trophies and it’s just bad that we’re not in the [Nations League] final four,” Eustáquio admitted.
David added: “It’s the only priority [qualifying for the Copa]. It’s the only thing we have to play for now. We’re going for it 100 per cent.”
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.
