Can Canada Achieve Big in this World Cup?

For the first time in 36 years, the Canadian soccer team has reached the big stage. With the level of prestige, the FIFA World Cup brings, Canada has proved its ability and allowed itself to compete for glory. To start, Canada will face off against one of the best teams in the world in Belgium. Their journey will begin. Yet, the looming question remains. Does Canada have a real shot at winning the whole thing?

Being realistic, no, Canada doesn’t have the firepower to hang with the big guns but, hey, stranger things have happened. And they are certainly able to provide this tournament with some excitement by pulling off an upset or two.

With Alphonso Davies, Canada’s finest product to date, leading from the forefront and other quality players such as Jonathan David rounding out their starting XI, they have a chance to make some noise.

Let’s look at some factors that might have an impact on their chances:

The Davies and David Canada Show

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Firstly, Canada’s top two players on this squad are really good. Say hello to Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David. Both are playing high-quality football at the top level of the sport, providing fans with a glimmer of hope.

Jonathan David plays in France’s top league, Ligue 1 while playing on LOSC Lille. This season he’s played 15 matches and has scored 9 goals which tie him for 4th in the league trailing behind world-class players like Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. While he is an absolute tank playing at the striker position, he displays an excellent sense for the game and shows this with high IQ plays. At times, he can prove to be a little inconsistent, but at 22 years old, he’s constantly improving. A dangerous attacking option for Canada, he might as well prove to be the X-factor in their success.

We all know the story of the famed Alphonso Davies. Born in Ghana, he fled to Edmonton, Canada as a refugee, and that’s where his journey began in his newfound life. While I and many others enjoy his YouTube and other social media content, his real talents are on the field. One thing you should know about him is that he’s got some serious pace on the pitch, and can change the whole outlook of a match in an instant with many dubbing him the “Road Runner.”

Alphonso typically plays the fullback position on Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga as many other high-quality players surround him on that team. That contributed to his development and showcased his innate ability to defend as well.

A combination of Davies and David can be deadly for opposing teams. And, while they still need to develop some chemistry between them, they could prove to be the deciding force.

Canada’s Experience

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Canada has yet to play any matches with top-level teams on a big stage with this being their first opportunity to showcase their talent to the global soccer community. And although, Canada has shown to dominate in tournaments like the CONCACAF League earlier this year where they finished first. With that performance, they were able to qualify for this World Cup.

During those games, Team Canada looked like they meshed well and had built up a certain level of chemistry necessary to compete at a high level. However, the only flaw in Canada’s squad is its overall inconsistency. They tend to play amazingly for several games then fall back to Earth right after. However, when the ball is flowing through the pitch, they look dangerous.

Conclusion

Canada is poised for an upset this World Cup and might even make it through the group stage. With a relatively inexperienced, yet talented squad, they have the potential to make some noise. However, don’t expect this team to make it too far into the World Cup as other teams possess more quality.

Canada’s development system has significantly improved over the last few years, and it will continue to produce top-tier talent.

My advice would be to just soak in the experience, take it all in, and take lessons from this cup to improve in the future.

Canada has such an exciting team being set up for the present and the future.

And their journey begins now.

Let the games begin.