Canada came home from its own World Cup on Saturday with a 3-0 loss to Morocco in the Round of 16. But the scoreline barely tells the story of what this team just pulled off.
Twelve years ago, Canada was ranked 112th in the world. Not a typo. They were a footnote in global soccer, a program that couldn’t buy a win on the biggest stage. Now? A program-record No. 30 ranking, a knockout-round victory, and a country that finally sees itself as a football nation.
They didn’t just show up. They made history. First World Cup point ever, against Bosnia and Herzegovina. First win ever, against Qatar. First knockout-round win ever, beating South Africa. That’s three firsts in one tournament for a team that had never scored a goal at a World Cup before 2022.
The response back home was something else. Fans flooded social media, and not with anger. With gratitude. It felt different from the usual post-elimination bitterness. People understood what they’d just watched.
Official team accounts posted about the football country Canada has become, calling this just the start of the journey. Not the end. Not a one-off. A beginning.
Portland Timbers defender Kamal Miller, who was part of the 2022 squad in Qatar, said he knows exactly what this means for soccer north of the border. He’s lived both versions of Canadian soccer — the one that was just happy to be there and this one that expects to compete.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney chimed in too. He thanked the team for the pride they brought home. That’s not the kind of thing that happens when your team just gets lucky. That’s a nation recognizing something real.
Even teams from Canada’s other sports — hockey, mostly — sent love. The Toronto Maple Leafs, the Canadiens, the Oilers. They all posted. When hockey guys are tweeting about the soccer team, you know something shifted.
Of course the league itself shared emotional messages. But the one that stood out came from a former USMNT star. That’s right — an American who used to play against Canada was publicly thanking the program. The appreciation crossed borders.
Canada’s run is over. The knockout loss stings, sure. But the next generation now has something they never had before: a standard. They watched this team win on home soil, in front of crowds that wouldn’t stop believing. They’ll try to climb even higher.
And a few years from now, that No. 30 ranking might look low.
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