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World Cup co-hosts: preparations for 2026


MrR

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Excluding Nations League, Gold Cup and Copa matches, how many international friendlies will the CMNT play between the last and the next World Cup Final tournaments?

1) 1 to 4 matches

2) 5 to 8 matches

3) 9 to 12 matches

4) 13 or more

Edited by MrR
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1 hour ago, kacbru said:

How many months will it take for Robert to figure out how to un-bold all of his text? 

1) 0-2 months

2) 2-4 months 

3) 4-6 months

4) 6 or more

Just as many as the CMNT - MrR

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6 hours ago, MrR said:

Excluding Nations League, Gold Cup and Copa matches, how many international friendlies will the CMNT play between the last and the next World Cup Final tournaments?

1) 1 to 4 matches

2) 5 to 8 matches

3) 9 to 12 matches

4) 13 or more

At best I will choose 2...5 to 8 friendlies but it will be more like 5 

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6 hours ago, TGAA_Star said:

At best I will choose 2...5 to 8 friendlies but it will be more like 5 

I sure hope you're right, because the importance of friendlies cannot be overlooked.

If the following format for the 2026 World Cup Final tournament is correct, "The teams will be split in 12 groups of 4 teams, with the top two of each group and the eight best third-placed teams progressing to a new round of 32, as approved by the FIFA Council on March 14, 2023.," then we can probably conclude that Canada, the United States and Mexico will be 3 of the 12 seeded countries. FIFA has also determined that 16 UEFA countries will compete in the 2026 tournament, which means there will be at least one UEFA country in each group.

Using the current FIFA Coca-Cola ranking as an example, that would mean Argentina, France, Brazil, England, Belgium, Croatia, the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal would make up the 9 other seeded countries, if they qualify. Thus, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil would be drawn with at least one of the 9 remaining UEFA countries, which according to the current rankings would be Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Ukraine, Serbia, Poland and Austria, if they qualify.

Therefore, Canada must play at the very least 2 international friendlies before 2026 against UEFA opponents of this caliber if the CSA has any serious intention of the CMNT being competitive in 2026.

Serbia has already played the United States this past January, and Germany is scheduled to play the United States and Mexico in October. Before you know it we will be into 2024, and only a couple of years away from the tournament.

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  • MrR changed the title to The importance of friendlies

Upcoming international friendlies for the three 2026 World Cup co-host nations:

September 9th - USA vs Uzbekistan

September 10th - Mexico vs Australia

September 12th - Mexico vs Uzbekistan

September 13th - USA vs Oman

October 14th - Mexico vs Ghana

October 14th - USA vs Germany

October 18th - Mexico vs Germany

October 18th - USA vs Ghana

Edited by MrR
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On 7/24/2023 at 12:46 PM, InglewoodJack said:

Nice work creating the fake wiki page with our friendlies against Gabon and SK btw

You should not make such assertions unless you are prepared to prove them.

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"CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani stated that the purpose of the CONCACAF Nations League is to have a regular schedule of international fixtures for CONCACAF's national teams, noting that some teams play fewer than 10 games in a four-year period and needed more competitive games to assist the sport's development in those nations."

In other words, these Nations League matches are meant to serve as a substitute for CONCACAF countries, like Canada, who are unable to arrange international friendlies for their national teams, and thus have no way to properly prepare for international tournaments like the Gold Cup or World Cup.

Therefore, the Nations League matches are an opportunity to introduce new players into the CMNT. True to form, the CSA's understanding of the Nations League matches appears to be, once again, ass-backwards, as our A players are asked to compete in the substitute international friendlies, while the B and C players are competing in the Confederation championship! Go figure!

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18 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

Nice work creating the fake wiki page with our friendlies against Gabon and SK btw

You're giving him way too much credit.

He can't even post here without bolding all of his text. You really think he has the technical know-how to create a Wikipedia page?

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The following 17 Canadian players saw action against the 2 European opponents, Belgium and Croatia, that Canada played at the 2026 World Cup:

Adekube, Borjan, Buchanan, Cavallini, David, Davies, Eustaquio, Hoilett, Hutchinson, Johnson, Kone, Larin, Laryea, Millar, Miller, Osorio and Vitoria

It is unlikely that more than 12 of these 17 players will feature in the 26 player roster for the 2026 World Cup. Therefore, is it realistic to expect that the 14 newcomers will fit into the squad and be effective against an European opponent the likes of a Germany or Italy, without ever having played a single match against a European national team? Is our depth chart that deep? The results at the recent Gold Cup would suggest that this is not the case.

Therefore, unless action is taken to arrange as many friendly internationals for Canada as possible against top-caliber European nations between now and 2026, the chance of incurring at least one loss in our 3 group matches at the World Cup Final appears to be greater than need be.

Edited by MrR
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In the 4 years leading up to Canada hosting the 2015 Women's World Cup, the CSA arranged 24 international friendlies for the CWNT. In the 18 months alone leading up to the 2015 World Cup, the CWNT played the following 9 international friendlies against top ranked opponents:

January 31, 2014 - vs. USA

May 8, 2014 - vs. USA

June 18, 2014 - vs. Germany

October 25, 2014 - vs. Japan

October 28, 2014 - vs. Japan

November 24, 2014 - vs. Sweden

November 26, 2014 - vs. Sweden

April 9, 2015 - vs. France

May 29, 2015 - vs. England

As a result of those preparations, the CWNT was able to progress all the way to the 2015 World Cup quarterfinals. Hopefully, with the CMNT not having to play any qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup, the CSA will arrange a similar number of international friendlies for the CMNT during those open FIFA windows. After all, in today's world of gender equality, is it not reasonable to expect that the CSA will treat the Canadian national men's team and the Canadian women's national team equally? If this is not the CSA's number 1 priority, then what is?

 

Edited by MrR
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Upcoming international friendlies for the three 2026 World Cup co-host nations:

September 9th - USA vs Uzbekistan

September 10th - Mexico vs Australia

September 12th - Mexico vs Uzbekistan

September 13th - USA vs Oman

October 13th - Canada vs Japan

October 14th - Mexico vs Ghana

October 14th - USA vs Germany

October 18th - Mexico vs Germany

October 18th - USA vs Ghana

Edited by MrR
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  • MrR changed the title to World Cup co-hosts: preparations for 2026
  • 2 weeks later...

With Canada's track-record, 1 international friendly is a step up from zero international friendlies. However, the CSA obviously must do better in a cycle that leads up to co-hosting the 2026 World Cup. The fact that we are co-hosting has to be attractive option for other football associations to come and play a match in Canada. With large Chinese and East Indian populations, wouldn't international friendlies in Vancouver against India and China draw large crowds in BC Place Stadium?

With the CSA is sending B-team players to the Gold Cup, couldn't those same North American-based players be used for for these international friendlies?

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