Next stop, sa国际传媒 Place, and perhaps even a game win for co-host sa国际传媒 in the 2026 World Cup.
As the planetary soccer showcase for 2022 concludes Sunday in unlikely host nation Qatar, Island soccer pundits mulled the whirlwind that was as sa国际传媒 captured the imagination of the country by ending a 36 year drought to be there, and then teased with early promise, before going a sobering 0-3 and realizing just how far ahead the truly elite level is from CONCACAF.
“Realistically, after 36 years, all we got was our first World Cup goal and that was the highlight [sa国际传媒’s second goal of the tournament was a Morocco own goal],” said 1986 World Cup veteran Jamie Lowery of Victoria, who travelled to Qatar to watch sa国际传媒 play.
“We learned that the World Cup is on a different level.”
But the lessons learned by playing in the same group as semifinalists Croatia and Morocco should wipe away any naivety next time.
“We need to play top countries more beyond CONCACAF and see European, African and South American nations on a routine basis,” said Lowery.
George Pakos of Victoria, another veteran of the 1986 World Cup team, concurred: “We need a whole different faster, quicker style beyond MLS and CONCACAF and our national team needs to play a lot more teams outside CONCACAF.”
With sa国际传媒, Mexico and the U.S. not yet officially given host berths as co-hosts for 2026, everybody knows that announcement is coming. That will mean plenty of opportunities for top-class friendlies to get sa国际传媒 ready, opening up intriguing possibilities for exhibition games across the country the next four years at venues such as Starlight Stadium in Langford.
The 2022 World Cup has shown the chance is there on the field for aspiring mid-level soccer nations.
“Countries like Morocco and Japan are no longer afraid of the Brazils, Germanys and Argentinas,” said Lowery.
“But we need more players playing at the top club levels in Europe, such as Morocco has, with its entire roster almost from European club teams. Everything should be a stepping stone to that, from the academies to the CPL to the MLS and then to Europe.”
That’s coming, said James Merriman, head coach of Island-based Pacific FC of the CPL.
“We’ve already seen Canadian-team players Ismael Kone [Watford] and Alistair Johnston [Celtic] get European contracts and Tajon Buchanan is being courted [according to TSN by Napoli, Inter Milan and AC Milan] because European clubs have realized this is a very exciting, young and dynamic Canadian group. Those signings should continue through the next cycle and beyond.”
Add to that Alphonso Davies already with Bayern Munich and Jonathan David with Lille.
“But you need professional steps along the way,” added Merriman. “It’s too big a jump for most players directly to MLS or Europe and the CPL now provides that first step that was missing for Canadian players. Two CPL alumni [Joel Waterman and James Pantemis] were on the final Canadian World Cup roster and [former PFC player] Lukas MacNaughton was in the final pre-World Cup training camp. That’s not bad for a league that is only four years old.”
Because of the way it ended for sa国际传媒, much of the elation felt across the country through the qualification process was muted during the 2022 World Cup. But in the fullness of time, it will be shown that it had an indelible effect that is deep and permanent, said Merriman: “We’ve seen an amazing momentum growing in the game across sa国际传媒 and that has helped grow the following and awareness of our sport and our national team in our country. It will only build toward 2026.”
