{"id":103781,"date":"2026-06-25T21:26:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T21:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/103781\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T21:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T21:26:25","slug":"everything-that-weve-built-team-canada-reflects-on-fifa-world-cup-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/103781\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Everything that we’ve built’: Team Canada reflects on FIFA World Cup progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tCanada Soccer\/Audrey Magny<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJune 25, 2026\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Sharing<\/p>\n

The mood in Vancouver on Wednesday wasn\u2019t necessarily what you\u2019d expect for a nation that just qualified for the knockout stage at a men\u2019s FIFA World Cup for the first time.<\/p>\n

But perhaps that\u2019s a sign of how far Canadian soccer has come since the last men\u2019s World Cup four years ago.<\/p>\n

Canada has advanced to the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, courtesy of finishing second in Group B. Their group-stage journey included a hard-fought draw in Toronto<\/a>, then a lopsided win<\/a> and a narrow loss in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

READ: This is our house: FIFA World Cup leaves lasting impact in Toronto<\/a><\/p>\n

That last match, Wednesday\u2019s 2-1 defeat to Switzerland at BC Place<\/a>, meant that although Canada qualified for the next round, they missed out on the chance to keep playing at home. <\/p>\n

Had they won or even drawn the Swiss, their Round of 32 match (and even a potential Round of 16 match) would have also been played in Vancouver. As it is, Canada will play no further games on home soil in this tournament.<\/p>\n

So although Canada achieved knockout-stage advancement for the first time ever, the post-match vibe at BC Place carried a distinct hint of \u201cwhat if?\u201d among fans, players, and media.<\/p>\n

\"Canada'sCanada\u2019s Liam Millar prepares to cross the ball against Switzerland at Vancouver\u2019s BC Place on Wednesday. (Credit: Audrey Magny\/Canada Soccer)<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously we\u2019re disappointed that we didn\u2019t win and we don\u2019t get to continue to play here in Vancouver,\u201d said midfielder Liam Millar. \u201cIt can be a really big advantage for us.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I\u2019ll miss] the way that the crowds have been with us, I think they\u2019ve been sensational in Toronto and in Vancouver. I\u2019ve never seen atmosphere like this. I\u2019ve never seen such passion in the stadiums for our games, and it\u2019s really been helping us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Millar was one of the team\u2019s second-half substitutes against Switzerland, as Canada pushed to overturn a 2-0 deficit. Fellow substitute Promise David electrified the Vancouver audience with his 75th-minute goal that brought Canada within one.<\/p>\n

And while the striker was similarly disappointed at leaving Vancouver, he sought to add some post-match perspective as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were some negatives in this [game], but look at the positives in all three games,\u201d said David. \u201cWe scored in all three games. We scored a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we did show a new level of attacking football. Everybody contributed. People that started the game and people that came into the game played a big factor in all three games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Canada'sCanada\u2019s Promise David controls a high ball against Switzerland in a FIFA World Cup match on Wednesday. (Credit: Audrey Magny\/Canada Soccer)<\/p>\n

While Canada competed at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the team departed at the group stage with three losses in three games. For Millar, who was part of that squad, the feeling is much different this time around.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to look at it from the perspective of how I felt four years ago: Disappointed that we didn\u2019t get out of the group, disappointed that we didn\u2019t get a point,\u201d said Millar. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow we\u2019ve got four points in this group and we\u2019ve got out of the group. So I\u2019m trying to look at it in the most positive way that I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ: 16 fun facts about members of Canada\u2019s FIFA World Cup squad<\/a><\/p>\n

Defender Alistair Johnston, who was also part of that 2022 team, admitted it was a \u201cletdown\u201d to know Canada won\u2019t play at home again at this World Cup.<\/p>\n

But amidst the disappointment, he was adamant that this team\u2019s achievement is something worth celebrating. <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course we\u2019d have loved to top the group, but we\u2019re in the knockout stage,\u201d he said. \u201cThis was the bare minimum of what we wanted and that goes to show where we\u2019re at as a program, we\u2019re doing knockouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Canada'sCanada\u2019s Promise David and Liam Millar acknowledge the crowd at Vancouver\u2019s BC Place. (Credit: Audrey Magny\/Canada Soccer)<\/p>\n

Canada plays its Round of 32 match on Sunday at noon PT \/ 3:00 p.m. ET at Los Angeles Stadium. Their opponent will be South Africa, who leapfrogged South Korea to finish second in Group A.<\/p>\n

The players travelling to California will be the first group of men to ever represent Canada in the knockout stage of a FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n

For Johnston, this achievement is \u201ceverything we have built\u201d through his five years with the senior national team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first came in here, Qatar 2022 was a pipe dream,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve played against some of the best teams in the world in friendlies, [the 2024] Copa America, previous World Cups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis group\u2019s really experienced now, and we\u2019re not going to look at this as, \u2018wow, that\u2019s the end of our journey.\u2019 No, this is exactly where we want to be now.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ: How accessibility and alignment turned Canada into a soccer power<\/a><\/p>\n

He hopes that as many Canadians as possible will make the trip to L.A. to support the team\u2014even if the crowds won\u2019t rival those experienced in Toronto and Vancouver.<\/p>\n

Millar agrees that while staying at home would have been great, it\u2019s way too early to count this team out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honour for us to do this stuff that Canadians have never done before, but I think we\u2019re not done yet,\u201d said Millar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve got more history to make, and me and all the guys will be doing everything we can to make sure that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada Soccer\/Audrey Magny June 25, 2026 The mood in Vancouver on Wednesday wasn\u2019t necessarily what you\u2019d expect for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[27752,17,16175,37287,1312,15822,27747,24707,27286,205],"class_list":["post-103781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alistair-johnston","tag-canada","tag-canada-soccer","tag-canada-vs-south-africa","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-liam-millar","tag-mens-soccer","tag-promise-david","tag-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}