It was the World Cup of Diego Maradona, Gary Lineker, Michel Platini and, yes, sa国际传媒.
The Vancouver Whitecaps will honour 15 members of sa国际传媒鈥檚 1986 World Cup team during Sunday鈥檚 MLS game against the Colorado Rapids. George Pakos, the City of Victoria water-metre technician and amateur VISL player who scored two of the four goals in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying that earned sa国际传媒 a spot in the World Cup, will lead the Southsiders cheering section March to the Match from Victory Square into sa国际传媒 Place Stadium.
鈥淲e were the only team to qualify out of CONCACAF in 1986 鈥� Mexico was in as host 鈥� so it really was a remarkable achievement,鈥� said Bruce Wilson, captain of the Canadian World Cup team.
鈥淥ur rise actually started when we made it out of the first round in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and then only just lost in the quarter-finals on penalty kicks to Brazil,鈥� added Wilson, who this fall is entering his 31st season of coaching the University of Victoria Vikes team.
Also on the Canadian World Cup team were Pakos, starting defender Ian Bridge of Victoria and Jamie Lowery of Port Alberni, the latter a Vic West player assigned to shadow the great Platini in the surprisingly tight opening 1-0 loss to European-champion France.
鈥淚t was very much a sa国际传媒 dominated team,鈥� noted Wilson.
鈥淧art of that were those two huge goals George [Pakos] scored in qualifying. If we didn鈥檛 get those, we would not have gone through to qualify.鈥�
Pakos is still involved in Island soccer as a referee.
鈥淚 was Georgie on the spot and the rest is history,鈥� he said in a TSN documentary.
鈥淸Pakos鈥� goals] changed the lives of many of us Canadians [in soccer],鈥� said World Cup head coach Tony Waiters, in the documentary.
Bridge is assistant coach in the NCAA with the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers women鈥檚 team. Lowery is a sa国际传媒 Transit driver in Victoria.
sa国际传媒 scored no goals in the 1986 World Cup and never made it back to the tournament. But all that changes in 2026 when sa国际传媒 will co-host with the U.S. and Mexico.
鈥淭he game is getting bigger and stronger at all levels in sa国际传媒 and 2026 will really accelerate the growth,鈥� Wilson said.
That鈥檚 upcoming in 2026. But on Sunday at sa国际传媒 Place, it will be 1986 all over again.
