How many times have Canada played at the World Cup as Newcastle-mad coach aims to shock in Qatar

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Ahead of the 2022 tournament in Qatar, HITC Sport takes a look at how many times Canada have played at the FIFA World Cup.

Gareth Southgate isn’t the only English manager heading to the World Cup next month.

John Herdman – who hails from County Durham and is a huge Newcastle United fan – will be in charge of Canada after a quite remarkable coaching rise.

Herdman coached the Canadian women’s team before taking the men’s job in 2018, a staggering journey for the former Sunderland youth coach.

Canada have been drawn against Belgium, Croatia and Morocco in a very tough Group F, but this Canada team are all about defying the odds.

Led by Bayern Munich speedster Alphonso Davies and Lille hitman Jonathan David, Canada will be looking to cause an upset or two in Qatar.

How many times have Canada played at the World Cup?

This is actually Canada’s first World Cup appearance since 1986.

Canada qualified for the tournament in Mexico 36 years ago but lost all three games without even scoring a goal, conceding five.

France, Hungary and the Soviet Union all managed to coast past Canada and some fans will have wondered just when they would qualify again.

That was Canada’s first appearance in the World Cup so this is just their second campaign on the world’s biggest stage.

A long qualifying campaign saw Canada play 20 games from the first round through to the third, where they finished ahead of Mexico and the United States as top of the pile.

Eight wins from 14 games whilst scoring 23 goals and conceding seven cemented Canada’s place as a new force in the CONCACAF region.

Canada are already booked in for the 2026 World Cup given that they will be co-hosting the tournament alongside Mexico and the United States.

It’s a shame that players like Paul Stalteri, Julian De Guzman and Dwayne De Rosario – three of Canada’s highest-capped players ever – didn’t manage to qualify for a World Cup.

Canada have new stars now though and they will be looking to secure their nation’s first-ever World Cup victory, starting with the opener against Belgium on November 23rd.