Canada National Football Team Facts & History - Canada Football News and World Cup Results

Nickname(s):

The Canucks, Les Rouges (The Reds)

Association:

Canadian Soccer Association

Confederation:

CONCACAF

Home stadium:

Head coach:

Dale Mitchell

Assistant coach:

Captain:

Top scorer:

Dale Mitchell and John Catliff

Facts & History

1 Canada Soccer Team Overview
2 Canadian Team History
3 Stars of the Current Squad
4 Team Legends
5 Team Honours
6 Canada Management
7 Canada Uniforms
8 Important Links
9 References

Canada Soccer Team Overview

1885 marked the beginning of the Canada national team's international appearances when the Canucks played their first unofficial match against the United States. As soccer is not the first sport in the country (ice hockey is) Canada has struggled to develop its soccer programs. After the 1986 participation in the FIFA World Cup the sport grew among the population. Toronto FC is the only Canadian franchise in the MLS, and the Canadian Soccer Association grew to the point that today Canada is among the main forcer in CONCACAF in all its categories: men, women and youth teams.

Canadian Team History

Early Years
In the late 1870’s two football association were created in Canada to overlook the soccer leagues in the country: the Dominion Football Association and the Western Football Association. In 1885 a non-official match against the United States that ended with Canad winning 1-0 marked the first international challenge between countries played outside Britain and also Canada’s first international victory in the sport.

It would take 39 years until Canada played its first official international match. That happened in 1924 when the Canadian National Soccer Team travelled to Australia to play a series of friendly matches. The first official one took place on June 24, 1924 and the final score was 3-2 for the Australians.

World Cup History
In 1928 Canada jumped on the same boat with England and withdrew their membership with FIFA. The reason is said be political differences regarding payment to amateur players. The Canadians would rejoing the International Board in 1946.

The first time Canada participated in a World Cup qualifying was in 1957 when the team beat the USA twice (5-1 and 3-2) but lost to Mexico also two times and fell short to qualify for the 1958 World Cup.

Canada participated in one edition of the FIFA World Cup in 1986. The Cunacks qualified for the tournament after beating Honduras by 2-1. Mexico was automatically qualified for the tournament as hosts so Canada was the legitimate CONCACAF Qualifiers Champions.

1986 World Cup
The Canadian team was drawn in Group C along with France, Hungary and the URSS. On the opening match against France, Canada had shown a lot of discipline and strength and it took France 79 minutes to break the solid Canadian defense with Jean-Pierre Papin scoring the winning goal.

The following two matches were not good for Canada. Against Hungary a goal at the second minute of the match caused the team to change their strategy and the inexperience was also a problem. At minute 75 Lajos Detari sealed Hugary’s victory with the second goal.

The last match against the Soviet Union was not better. Another 2-0 defeat and the Canadians were sent home with 3 loses and goalless.

Since then Canada has struggled to secure a place in the World Cup finals. The Canadian Football Association continues to work hard in a plan to develop the youth categories. Canada Women’s National Team and Canada Youth U-23 Team just recently secured their spots in the soccer tournament of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The development program for the Canadian Men’s National Soccer Team also showed good results in the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

CONCACAF Gold Cup
After allowing Mexico – the title holders – to score the at minute 35 in the 2000 Gold Cup quarter-finals Canada surprised everybody by coming back on the 83rd minute with Carlo Corazzin tying the game. On the second minute of extra time Richard Hastings scored the golden goal that sent Canada to the semifinals and boosted the team’s confidence.

The Canadians beat Trinidad & Tobago in the semi-finals and were to face Colombia. The Colombians could not impose their South American style and fell before a strong and determined Canadian side. Canada won the match 2-0 to lift the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup Trophy. The Canucks also had the topscorer of the tournament, Carlo Corazzin with 4 goals; the MVP, Graig Forrest and the best rookie of the competition, Richard Hastings.

Present
In 2002 and in 2007 Canada finished in third place in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and recently the U-23 team qualified in second place of the continent behind the USA, for the Olympic Games in Beijing. The main squad is in preparation for the 2010 World Cup qualifying. The team will play two friendly matches in the beginning of June, against Guatemala and Panama respectively before facing San Vicent & The Grenadines in a two-leg match in the path for the World Cup.

Stars of the Current Squad

Pat Onstad

Date of Birth: January 13, 1968
Position: Goalkeeper
Height: 193cm
Two-time MLS Champion with the Houston Dynamo, Onstad has already 50 games for Canada National Team. He was elected best goalkeeper of the year in the MLS for the second time in a row after leading his Texan team to their second title. Despite his age Onstad is a key player on Canada’s path to the World Cup.

Julián de Guzman

Date of Birth: March 25, 1981
Position: Defensive Midfielder
Height: 169cm
With a Jamaican and Filipino descent De Guzman is a truly international star for the Canadian Team. In 1997 he went to Olympique Marseille and after three years with the French team he was transferred to Germany where he played for FC Saarbrucken and Hannover 96. Since 2005 he’s been playing in the Spanish La Liga for Deportivo La Coruna.

Dwayne De Rosario

Date of Birth: May 15, 1978
Position: Attacking Midfielder
Height: 180cm
De Rosario already has 45 caps for the Canadian National Team and 13 goals. He is a powerful midfielder that goes for every ball. His determination already helped his MLS team, Houston Dynamo, with back-to-back the league title in the two past seasons.

Team Legends

Mark Watson

Full Name: Mark Stewart Watson
Date of Birth: September 8, 1970 (1972-08-30)
Position: Defender
Caps: 77
Goals: 3

Carlo Corazzin

Full Name: Giancarlo Corazzin
Date of Birth: December 25, 1971(1945-11-03)
Position: Forward
Caps: 59
Goals: 11

Dale Mitchell

Full Name: Dale William Mitchell
Date of Birth: April 21, 1958
Position: Striker
Caps: 55
Goals: 19

John Catliff

Full Name: John Catliff
Date of Birth: January 8, 1965
Position: Striker
Caps: 43
Goals: 19

Randy Samuel

Full Name: Randolph Fitzgerald Samuel
Date of Birth: December 23, 1963(1970-06-01) (1960-04-13) (1951-09-05)
Position: Defender
Caps: 82

Graig Forrest

Full Name: Craig Lorne Forrest
Date of Birth: September 20, 1967(1969-06-09)
Position: Goalkeeper
Caps: 56

Most International Matches Played

Rank	Player	Career Dates	Caps	# Appearances

Most Appearances

Rank	Player	Career Dates	# Appearances
1	Randy Samuel		82

Most Goals

Rank	Player	Career Dates	# Goals
1	Dale Mitchell		19
1	John Catliff		19

Player Recognition & Awards

Team Honours

CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions: 1985, 2000

Canada Management

Head Coach: Dale Mitchell
Mitchell coached the U-21 Canada National Team from 2001 to 2006 and in 2007 was appointed as the coach of the senior team. Mitchell, who participated in the 1986 World Cup as a player for Canada and is also one of the all time top scorers for the National Team with 19 goals, has now the tough mission of getting one of the CONCACAF’s spots in the 2010 World Cup. He’s been there once so he knows the path to the glory.