The Road to Russia continues.
After opening the fourth round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup with a 1-0 win over Honduras at BC Place, Canada’s senior men’s national team will look to keep things rolling on Tuesday against El Salvador.
Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. PT at Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador. In Canada, the match will be broadcast live on BeIN Sports. Stay tuned to Canada Soccer for updates throughout the match.
THE LOWDOWN
Canada is in Group A with El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico.
Each team will play each other twice, once home and once away, and the top two teams will advance to the final round of qualifying in CONCACAF – also known as “The Hex.” From there, three of the six remaining CONCACAF nations will earn automatic bids to the World Cup while a fourth will participate in a playoff with the fifth-place finisher from Asia for the final spot.
Here are the current Group A standings after the first matchday.
<strong>Team</strong> |
<strong>PTS</strong> |
<strong>W</strong> |
<strong>L</strong> |
<strong>D</strong> |
<strong>GF</strong> |
<strong>GA</strong> |
<strong>GD</strong> |
Mexico |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
+3 |
Canada |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
+1 |
Honduras |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
-1 |
El Salvador |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
-3 |
CANADA
Highlights: Canada come away with 1-0 win Friday at BC Place
There is a sense of optimism around the Canadian camp after a 1-0 win over Honduras on Friday.
MLS Rookie of the Year Cyle Larin was awarded the goal after a Will Johnson header appeared to roll in off his backside. Queens Park Rangers winger Junior Hoilett set up the goal with a cross from the left flank.
The 25-year-old, who was making his first appearance for Canada in an official competition, earned rave reviews after the match
Three Whitecaps FC players are on the Canadian side: left back Sam Adekugbe, and midfielders Kianz Froese and Russell Teibert. But Canada Soccer announced on Monday that Teibert did not make the trip to El Salvador due to injury.
Canada’s record in 2015 is 6W-2L-5D.
It’s been an encouraging year so far, but this will be one of the toughest tests yet. Canada hasn’t won a game in Central America since 2004.
EL SALVADOR
The Central American side fell 3-0 to Group A favourite Mexico in their fourth round opener.
It’s been a tough year for El Salvador, whose 2015 record stands at 3W-7L-4D. They will be fielding a young group on Tuesday, as they did against Mexico, due to an ongoing dispute between the players and governing body.
But Canada shouldn’t expect a walk in the park by any means. The two teams met earlier this year at the CONCACAF Gold Cup and played to a scoreless draw.
WHAT’S NEXT?
See the remaining Group A schedule below.
Nov. 13, 2015 |
Mexico 3, El Salvador 0 |
Estadio Azteca, Mexico City |
Nov. 13, 2015 |
<a href="//matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2015-11-13-canada-mens-national-team-vs-honduras/recap">Canada 1, Honduras 0</a> |
BC Place, Vancouver |
Nov. 17, 2015 |
Honduras vs. Mexico |
Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula |
Nov. 17, 2015 |
El Salvador vs. Canada |
Estadio Cuscatlan, San Salvador |
Mar. 25, 2016 |
Canada vs. Mexico |
TBD |
Mar. 25, 2016 |
El Salvador vs. Honduras |
<span style="line-height: 20.8px;">TBD</span> |
Mar. 29, 2016 |
Mexico vs. Canada |
<span style="line-height: 20.8px;">TBD</span> |
Mar. 29, 2016 |
Honduras vs. El Salvador |
TBD |
Sep. 2, 2016 |
El Salvador vs. Mexico |
<span style="line-height: 20.8px;">TBD</span> |
Sep. 2, 2016 |
Honduras vs. Canada |
TBD |
Sep. 6, 2016 |
Mexico vs. Honduras |
TBD |
Sep. 6, 2016 |
Canada vs. El Salvador |
TBD |