Never before has a defeat meant as much of a lift to the global soccer stock and reputation of a country as Canada’s 1-0 loss to Belgium did on Wednesday at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. Playing in its first World Cup match in more than 36 years, Canada was the talk of the world’s biggest sports event given the quality of soccer that the John Herdman-coached squad presented to a worldwide television audience of more than 200 countries.Start your day with a roundup of B.C.
The fact that the 1-0 loss was so disappointing demonstrates just how far the Canadian men’s soccer program has come under the inspirational leadership of Herdman these past five years. It also came one day before four-down football continued to show its definitive growth among young fans in Canada with strong ratings for the NFL Thanksgiving Day tripleheader Thursday.