- Canada 4 (Ricketts 7’, Akindele 34, Osorio 45’, Bair 76’), Barbados 1 (Lashley 35’)
- Reds win first of back-to-back games vs. Barbados
- Carducci, Didic and Borges didn't see any action
Canada plays Barbados again on Friday and then Iceland next Wednesday. Both games are also in Irvine, California. Even though all three of these matches are friendlies they are still hugely important for Canada if it’s going to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Under new rules, the top six teams in Concacaf, based on the FIFA world rankings in June 2020, move on to “the Hex,” the final round of qualifiers for the region. The top three nations in “the Hex” then qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. Canada currently sits seventh in the Concacaf region, behind Mexico (No. 11), the U.S (22), Costa Rica (46), Jamaica (48), Honduras (62), and El Salvador (69). In order to crack the top six by next June and advance to “the Hex.” Canada has to win games like the ones against Barbados and Iceland in order to pick up valuable ranking points and move up the FIFA ladder. Canada trails El Salvador by 15 points at the moment. Should Canada not make “the Hex,” it would be forced to compete in an arduous secondary Concacaf qualifying competition, with the ultimate winner then facing the fourth-place finisher from “the Hex” in a two-game series. The winner of that would then have to play a home-and home playoff against a nation from outside Concacaf with a World Cup berth at stake. NOTES: Montreal Impact midfielder Samuel Piette served as Canada’s captain for the first time on Tuesday. With 60 caps, Ricketts was Canada’s most experienced player… Canada beat Barbados 1-0 in 2004 in the only other game between the sides.
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