The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is on! Each day ahead of the tournament’s return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year’s global event.
Of the three host countries for the 2026 World Cup, one national team sticks out like a sore thumb in terms of tournament history.
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The Mexican national team has been to 18 World Cups; the United States has made 12 appearances at the tournament. Canada, on the other hand, has only been to the World Cup twice, once in 1986 and again in 2022.
Even more baffling, Canada has never even picked up a point at a World Cup. Across those two appearances, the Canadians have six losses. Canada didn’t score any goals in its first appearance, and only scored two in the second; technically, they only scored one, because one of the goals was a Moroccan own goal in a 2-1 loss.
To date, Canada’s only World Cup goal came against Croatia in 2022, with captain and star Alphonso Davies heading in a very early opportunity in the second minute. However, the normally sound Canadian defense quickly collapsed, as Les Rouges allowed four unanswered goals from Croatia across the rest of the game.
Part of Canada’s long absences from the tournament have been due to the competitive CONCACAF qualifications. Over the past several years, only three or four CONCACAF teams were able to qualify for the tournament. Now, with Canada, Mexico and the U.S. all as host countries and the World Cup expanding to 48 teams rather than 32, there are six teams representing CONCACAF this summer.
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But now Canada will try to rewrite the script on North American soil. The Canadians play in Group B alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland. It’s a group that looks winnable for the Canadians. Even if they can’t win the group, they can at least get their first win — maybe even on home soil.
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