Does Canada have a place on the global soccer pitch?

Of course Canada has a place on the global soccer stage, any country does. However Canada has a huge mountain to climb in developing home grown talent considering we have the U.S. (which has a vastly superior college development system) and Mexico (the teams in their national league almost exclusively use Mexican born players which is crucial in skill improvement for the national team) as our main competition for getting a spot in the World Cup. While the CIS is coming along it will never have the resources or participation the U.S. system has. MLS does a terrible job developing Canadian players despite having three Canadian teams. While all three teams have academies I don't know if it will ever help develop players to play on an international level (rarely does an MLS team win CONCACAF, so I don't see how players playing in the MLS could ever be ready for the World Cup).

Canada has to earn their place on the global soccer pitch, and that means earning a trip to the World Cup finals.

Not really - Canada is to soccer as Mexico is to hockey.

But it shouldn't come as a surprise, for several reasons.

The first and most obvious is the playing season here is fairly short because we're a northern nation. It's the same reason we do better at the Winter Olympics than we do at the Summer Olympics.

Another is that soccer is a game of endurance and strategy, while the most popular sports in Canada and the US are speed/power sports like baseball, basketball, football and hockey.

The final reason is that the World Cup is skewed to participation from certain geographic areas. It's hard for nations in North America to qualify when they are placed in a division where only 3 nations get to go (out of 35) while 5 out of 10 South American teams get to go. Same goes for Europe - which allows 13 out of 53 to go.

If Canada makes it to the World Cup, I'll cheer for them, but outside of a Canadian team playing there, I'm not interested in the sport at all.

Honestly, short of hosting the World Cup, I doubt we'll get play in it anytime soon.

Another poibnt is that Canada is a small nation, based on population. Soccer isn't big in the US either, but they have ten times our population.

I play soccer, and my son (much to hockey-coach mom's chagrin) is pretty good at it too. But it's just not part of our cultural mindset. If you have a talented athlete in the family, you put him or her in hockey. Or skiing.

Good Canadian players take off for Europe to play; there's nothing here for them. MLS just doesn't have the glory or the pay.

On the plus side, we save ourselves some aggravation. As far as corruption, FIFA gives the IOC a run for their money.

But don't worry too much. My son is going to captain Canada's first World Cup winning team in a few years.

Even when I was a kid, more played soccer than hockey; it's a cheap game,
and I remember playing soccer with an orange ball... in the snow.


Been wondering why there has been so much promotion of the Euro championships
over here, with it all over the news, specials in the bars, etc. etc.

Sign of the times I guess people can't leave their culture where it belongs.....
at the airport.


We are a hockey nation, no need to import this 'foreign' stuff.

Besides, soccer is sooooooooooooooooooooooo boring.

Lots of fun to play, boring as shit to watch. At the elite level, it's diving, whining and crying...like European hockey.

Lots of fun to play, boring as shit to watch. At the elite level, it's diving, whining and crying...like European hockey.

I could not agree more. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

I don't think that's a fair comment. More kids in Canada play soccer than hockey. While no Canadian has ever written a song about soccer I think it's fair to say more people in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal care more about MLS than the NLL, and lacrosse it suppose to be a national sport!



Russia, Seweden, Finland and Denmark would have the same playing season, yet all of those nations' national teams could hand our national team's asses to us every day of the week and twice on Sunday.



Canada is hosting the woman's world cup. I know that's like getting 3 numbers in Lotto 649 but it's a start.

Where to start? Soccer has a lot going against it ever being a major league sport in Canada. As stated already MLS (especially Vancouver) are not very good at developing players. Not one Canadian has set foot on the field for the Whitecaps this year. I used to coach teenage boys in baseball and football and the image that soccer has for teenage boys by and large is that soccer is for pansies or that it is unmanly. And watching any professional soccer who can blame them, remember the disgusting dive that the current Whitecap, Davidson pulled against TFC. Or watch Euro, not only diving but feigning injury. Again disgusting. Or pushing your teammates away after scoring a goal so all the limelight falls only on you. Or chewing out your teammates on the pitch. All behaviors that go directly against what young athletes are taught in other sports. It doesn't help that alot of the top players born and raised in Canada have decided to not play for Canada, Hoilet, Hargraves, Bunbury, Jonathan deGuzman. If these players and others had represented their country maybe Canada could have done better internationally. But until the cheating, unhonorable mentality changes in soccer, then soccer will continue to be ridiculed by the majority of the best athletes in Canada. And without the best athletes its an uphill battle for soccer in this country

What is this "soccer" you're talking about?

Canadians should be proud of not being any good at such a ridiculous, silly, and unmanly activity.

Lots of fun to play, boring as shit to watch. At the elite level, it's diving, whining and crying...like European hockey.

One of my comments once with regards to a Canadian submarine was that if Canada wanted something that was REALLY good at diving then you need an Italian soccer team!

Footy (soccer to you lot) is boring as fuck. Brits watch it because it gives them yet another excuse to drink and fight.

Even when I was a kid, more played soccer than hockey; it's a cheap game,
and I remember playing soccer with an orange ball... in the snow.


Been wondering why there has been so much promotion of the Euro championships
over here, with it all over the news, specials in the bars, etc. etc.

Sign of the times I guess people can't leave their culture where it belongs.....
at the airport.


We are a hockey nation, no need to import this 'foreign' stuff.

Besides, soccer is sooooooooooooooooooooooo boring.
The big part is that it is still seen mainly as a 'kids game' Up until about grade six, most of us played it during recess and lunch time. baseball and football had the short seasons, but soccer was played during all seasons.