Canada prepares for its 1st World Cup in 36 years
The Canadian soccer federation was founded on April 17, 1963, when the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) split from the National Soccer League.
The first World Cup was played in 1954, but was abandoned after only four rounds. The event was then held in Italy in 1948. Prior to that, Canada had only qualified for the tournament once, at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, where it finished fourth.
Canada is making its first attempt at World Cup play since the tournament was canceled after the first round due to the 1958 death of a Canadian player.
Canada was ranked second in the world before the tournament. After that game, Canada took on Australia on the road in its opening round. Both teams ended up tied for the second-best record in the world – the only pair of teams to do so. The pair then played on the same plane where three players who died in a plane crash died earlier that year.
The Canadian team, featuring future legends such as George Armstrong, Graham McPhee, Doug Harvey, and George Armstrong, Jr., was named the best in the tournament.
Canada was given a one-of-two-kind allocation of tickets to the tournament, so it could only travel with one team per round. This ensured it would not face Italy or Yugoslavia in the quarterfinals, and in theory helped Canada overcome the loss in 1958 over Greece in the group stage.
This is Canada’s first World Cup appearance since its last tournament in 1974.
Canada was given a one-of-two-kind allocation of tickets to the tournament, so it could only travel with one team per round. This ensured it would not face Italy or Yugoslavia in the quarterfinals, and in theory helped Canada overcome the loss in 1958 over Greece in the group stage.
This is Canada’s first World Cup appearance since its last tournament in 1974.
Canada was given a one-of-two-kind allocation of tickets to the tournament, so it could only travel with one team per round. This ensured it would not face Italy or Yugoslavia in the quarterfinals, and in theory helped Canada overcome the loss in 1958 over Greece in the group stage.
This is Canada’s first World Cup appearance since its last tournament in 1974.
Canada was given a one-of-two-kind allocation of tickets to the tournament, so it could only travel with one team per round. This ensured it would not face