It’s been a long wait for Canadians — 36 years in fact — but for the first time since 1986, Canada has a team playing in the FIFA World Cup.
While the sport has grown in the country immensely since the last World Cup appearance, Canada has not found the international success to get back on the biggest stage. The country failed to qualify for eight consecutive World Cups before 2022.
There’s history to be made in Qatar for Les Rouges. Not only has the team never won a World Cup match, but Canada does not even have a goal in World Cup history.
The country has its eyes on John Herdman’s squad, who is led by stars Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David. Canada will rely on its young players to play spoiler in what is a tough Group B that features Belgium, Croatia and Morocco.
MORE: Breaking down Canada’s World Cup 26-man roster
Canada World Cup appearances
Canada only has one prior appearance in the World Cup. That came in 1986 at the World Cup in Mexico.
It was a less-than-stellar performance from the crew. Canada failed to advance past the group stage, losing all three of its games in Group C. The team did not score a single goal in any of the contests either, suffering three consecutive shutouts.
Despite the popularity of the sport, Canada failed to qualify for the World Cup every chance the team had until 2022.
1986 Canada World Cup roster
In 1986, Canada’s team was led by captain Bruce Wilson, with Tony Waiters as the coach.
Most of the team played in North America, with a select few belonging to lower-level clubs over in Europe.
| No. | Player | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tino Lettieri | GK |
| 2 | Bob Lenarduzzi | DF |
| 3 | Bruce Wilson (C) | DF |
| 4 | Randy Ragan | MF |
| 5 | Terry Moore | DF |
| 6 | Ian Bridge | DF |
| 7 | Carl Valentine | FW |
| 8 | Gerry Gray | MF |
| 9 | Branko Segota | FW |
| 10 | Igor Vrabilic | FW |
| 11 | Mike Sweeney | MF |
| 12 | Randy Samuel | DF |
| 13 | George Pakos | MF |
| 14 | Dale Mitchell | FW |
| 15 | Paul James | MF |
| 16 | Greg Ion | MF |
| 17 | David Norman | MF |
| 18 | Jamie Lowery | MF |
| 19 | Pasquale De Luca | MF |
| 20 | Colin Miller | DF |
| 21 | Sven Habermann | GK |
| 22 | Paul Dolan | GK |
1986 Canada World Cup match results
Canada went 0-0-3 at the 1986 World Cup, losing all three of their Group C matches and failing to advance past the round. Les Rouges ended the tournament placing 24th out of the 24 participating teams.
The team allowed five goals in the three games and did not score a single goal, meaning that the country has yet to ever record a World Cup goal.
| Date | Result |
|---|---|
| June 1, 1986 | France 1, Canada 0 |
| June 6, 1986 | Hungary 2, Canada 0 |
| June 9, 1986 | Soviet Union 2, Canada 0 |
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