Rewind to Canada at World Cup 1986 with BarDown
Published
When Canada takes to the pitch to face Belgium on Nov. 23 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, it will mark the first time in 36 years that Canadians have watched their team in action at men's football's biggest stage.
But before then, BarDown's Daniel Zakrzewski and Corwin McCallum take a look back at the only other time Canada competed at a World Cup - Mexico 1986.
You can catch BarDown Presents: Canada at the '86 World Cup at 7:30pm et/4pm pt on TSN1/3, streaming on the TSN.App and on TSN.ca.
Now many people reading this right now might not have been born in 1986 or were too young to remember what happened, so here's a quick refresher on how Canada go there and what happened.
The 1986 World Cup featured 24 teams. As hosts, Mexico automatically claimed a berth (as did defending champions Italy), leaving just one spot up for grabs among 17 teams in CONCACAF qualifying. Canada was set to begin its qualification with a two-legged tie against Jamaica, but the Reggae Boyz withdrew and Canada automatically advanced to the round-robin stage of qualifying and the 1985 CONCACAF Championship.
Canada found itself in Group 1 alongside Guatemala and Haiti. Each team would play four matches (home and home against each opponent) to advance to the next round. Canada finished atop the group with three wins (two in Victoria, BC and one in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) and a draw to advance over Guatemala by two points.
The final round was played in the exact same format with three teams advancing from their groups: Canada, Honduras (who go by El Salvador and Suriname) and Costa Rica (who emerged from a group with the United States and Trinidad and Tobago). After drawing 1-1 with Costa Rica in their first match in Toronto, Canada picked up a precious 1-0 win on the road in Honduras before a scoreless draw in Costa Rica. Canada would go on to seal qualification for its first ever World Cup berth with a 2-1 win over Honduras on Sept. 14, 1985 in St. John's.
Captained by defender Bruce Wilson, the Canada team that went to Mexico was comprised almost exclusively of North American-based players. They would find themselves in Group C, alongside France, Hungary and the USSR.
On Matchday 1, Canada met France in Leon. It was the Canadians who came closest to opening the scoring when Ian Bridge's powerful header off of a free kick rang off the post. Les Bleus would pick up the 1-0 victory, however, with a 79th-minute goal from 1991 Ballon d'Or winner Jean-Pierre Papin.
Canada's second match couldn't have started much worse with Hungary picking up a lead in the second minute on a goal from Marton Esterhazy. They would double their lead in the 75th from Lajos Detari. Canada would finish the 2-0 loss on 10 men when substitute Mike Sweeney picked up a second booking in the 85th.
Looking for something from their final match, Canada took on the USSR in Irapuato, playing the Soviets to a first-half stalemate. It wouldn't last into the second half, though, as goals from Oleh Blohkin (58th) and Aleksandr Zavarov (62nd) gave the USSR a 2-0 win.
Canada finished its maiden World Cup with three losses and no goals scored.