For most of the 25 years since the last time Canada’s men’s soccer team hosted the United States in World Cup qualifying, fans north of the border dreamed of what they saw Sunday.
Sure, the Canucks had already ended a 39-year losing streak to their brash southern neighbors, in 2019 in the Concacaf Nations League. But World Cup qualifying games are the biggest of all, and Canada hadn’t reached the final round from 1997 until now.
On Sunday, a gathering of around 12,000 home fans in Hamilton, Ontario, finally got to truly let it out. Cyle Larin set the crowd at Tim Hortons Field alight with a seventh-minute goal, and Sam Adekugbe sealed the 2-0 win with a breakaway goal on the game’s last play.
