Canada men’s team qualifies for World Cup after 36 years

The Canada men’s national soccer team has qualified for the World Cup for the second time in history, ending a 36-year drought after beating Jamaica 4-0 in Toronto.

Goals from Cyle Larin, Tajon Buchanan, Junior Hoilett and an Adrian Mariappa own goal on Sunday secured all three points following a dominant performance against a Jamaica side already eliminated from contention in the CONCACAF region’s qualifying tournament for this year’s finals in Qatar.

Their last World Cup appearance came in Mexico in 1986, where they finished bottom of their group without scoring.

English coach John Herdman, who led the Canadian women’s team to successive Olympic bronze medals in 2012 and 2016, has guided Les Rouges to Qatar in his first qualifying campaign in charge.

“We just qualified for the World Cup, this is a legit football country,” said Herdman, who last worked in England as an academy coach at Sunderland more than 20 years ago.

“When I first took over and I said, ‘We’re going to qualify for the World Cup’, I don’t think they believed us.

I’m happy for them because all of these fans have waited and waited and waited, and hung in with us – and we’re going.

The US, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama are all vying for the final two automatic Concacaf qualification spots for the 2022 World Cup, which begins on November 21.

Mexico and the United States, who play El Salvador and Costa Rica on Wednesday, both need only a draw in their final qualification game to secure their places in Qatar.

Costa Rica, currently in fourth place, would need a big win against the United States and other results to go their way in order to finish in the top three.

The fourth-placed country in the eight-team table advances to a play-off against the winner of the Oceania qualifying final between the Solomon Islands and New Zealand tomorrow.