I have worked for this country for 11 years and I have been a pioneer for a very long time. You won’t find anyone as passionate as I am about this program, these players and this staff,” Herdman said Wednesday. You won’t find anyone more passionate than me to take this country to the next level. And you will not find anyone who has had this kind of experience with this team, and the lessons we will learn from this adventure in order to apply them to the next one.
In its first final phase in 36 years, Canada lost 1-0 to Belgium. He then hit the target in the second minute against Croatia, before suffering a bitter 4-1 loss which confirmed his elimination. The Canadians will face the Moroccans on Thursday.
The 47-year-old Briton led the New Zealand women’s soccer team from 2006 to 2011, and the Canadian women’s team from 2011 to 2018. He notably enabled Canada to obtain the bronze medal at the London Olympics in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
After being named head coach of the men’s team in 2018, he led them to first place in the CONCACAF qualifying stage.
Herdman believes that his team’s mission is to promote soccer in the country. Alphonso Davies’ goal against Croatia was Canada’s first in five games at the World Cup. The coach hopes the country can savor their first victory against Morocco, who are fighting for a place in the round of 16.
Canada will be one of the host countries of the 2026 World Cup along with the United States and Mexico. Matches will be played in Toronto and Vancouver. The leaders of Soccer Canada hope that the presence of his team in Qatar and the process of qualifying for the next one will increase the interest of young people in the sport.
It is these young people, and these schools, that will establish Canada as a soccer country, said Herdman. They saw the game against Belgium, they saw Davies score against Croatia and they know we are, I almost said, yeah, we are a soccer country. Here we are. We cannot deny it. Nobody.