Will Hutchinson retire from international football?

Has Atiba Hutchinson suited up for Canada for the last time?

The 39-year-old Brampton, Ont. native came on as a second-half substitute during Canada's 2-1 loss to Morocco in their Group F finale at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Thursday.

The appearance was Hutchinson's 101st, adding to his caps record as the only man with a century of appearances in a CanMNT uniform. TSN panelist Julian de Guzman, a close friend of Hutchinson's, held the previous record at 89 and said on Thursday he believes Hutchinson will retire from international football now that he's played in a World Cup.

Hutchinson's third appearance in Qatar was his best. He came close to scoring a goal in the second half against Morocco, but his header off of a corner rang off the crossbar and bounced on the line without ever crossing it. Hutchinson has scored nine goals in a Canada shirt.

The veteran midfielder had been an injury doubt heading into the tournament, having made only a single appearance for club team Besiktas this season, dealing with a lingering muscle injury.

Getting Hutchinson to Qatar was a rallying cry for many CanMNT players during CONCACAF qualifying.

“He is the ultimate, consummate professional," Canada defender Alistair Johnston said of Hutchinson to TSN last month. "He’s just the perfect representation of what it means to be Canadian. He’s just unbelievably humble, hardworking, selfless…he’s everything you [ask] for in a leader. And he’s one of those guys that when he walks into a room, the air kinda just changes. There’s an aura to him. He just has that kind of presence. He’s just a really special individual.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve only been with the program for a day or for 10 years, you feel like you can have a conversation with him. More important than just a footballer, he’s a great man, a great friend and father. And I’m just really lucky to know him. So this is the perfect swansong to an unbelievable Canadian career that he’s had. To be able to get to a World Cup for him is really special and there’s no one who deserves to be on the world’s biggest stage than him.”

Hutchinson represented his country at both its highest points and its lowest nadirs. On six occasions, Hutchinson was named Canadian Player of the Year and he was included in the Canada Soccer Association’s All-Time XI announced in 2014.

Playing for Swedish side Osters IF at the time, Hutchinson was handed his first cap during a January 2003 friendly against the United States before being included in Canada’s Gold Cup squad later that year. It would be the first of six Gold Cups that Hutchinson would suit up in, becoming a fixture in the Canada squad under several different managers.

Hutchinson would score his first international goal in a 2006 World Cup qualifier against Honduras in October of 2004. His final goal in a Canada shirt came this past February in a 2-0 win over El Salvador in World Cup qualifying.

Hutchinson is currently in his 10th season with Besiktas, having won three Turkish SuperLig titles with the team, including in 2021, the same year the club one the Turkish Cup.

Prior to joining Besiktas, Hutchinson also won four Danish Superliga titles at Copenhagen and claimed the KNVB Cup as a member of PSV in 2012.