Canada targeting World Cup first in Group B campaign

PARIS: After a decade-long march up the FIFA rankings, co-hosts Canada are hoping to crown their rise by claiming a piece of World Cup history in Group B – a first ever win.

In two previous appearances at the World Cup – the 1986 finals in Mexico and the 2022 tournament in Qatar – Canada have a perfect record of six defeats from six matches.

The co-hosts are aiming to buck that trend in a first round group that includes Bosnia-Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland.

Canada’s American coach Jesse Marsch insists his team, which includes the likes of Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies and Juventus’s Jonathan David, have set their sights high.

“We want to win the World Cup,” Marsch said last year.

“That may sound ridiculous, but why would we go into any tournament at any time and think, ‘Yeah, let’s see how we do, and maybe we get one win. Or can we score a goal?'”

While outright victory remains monumentally unlikely, Canada’s results under Marsch suggest that winning a first World Cup game is well within reach.

The Canadians surprised many by reaching the semi-finals of the Copa America in 2024, where they only narrowly lost on penalties to Uruguay in the third-place playoff.

The biggest challenge to Canada’s group campaign is likely to come from Switzerland, who are returning for their sixth straight World Cup.

The Swiss have a consistent record of navigating the group stages – reaching the second rounds in 2022, 2018 and 2014 – but have never won a World Cup knockout game.

They fared better at the 2024 Euros, eliminating defending champions Italy in the last 16 before suffering a penalty shoot-out defeat to England.

The Swiss possess attacking threat in forward Breel Embolo, who is likely to be flanked by Nottingham Forest’s Dan Ndoye and Sevilla winger Ruben Vargas.

Sunderland’s Granit Xhaka returns to anchor the midfield in what is likely to be his fourth and final World Cup.

– Dzeko defies age –

Bosnia meanwhile will feature another player gracing the World Cup stage for the final time, the 40-year-old striker Edin Dzeko returning to the tournament 12 years after his only other appearance at the 2014 finals in Brazil.

That campaign in 2014 marked the only other time Bosnia have played in a major championships.

Dzeko played a key role in their journey to the 2026 finals, scoring the equalizer in a dramatic playoff win over Wales in Cardiff before the team went on to stun four-time world champions Italy.

At the other end of the age spectrum, Bosnia will look to PSV Eindhoven’s 21-year-old Esmir Bajraktarevic and 18-year-old Kerim Alajbegovic for goals.

Like Canada, Asian minnows Qatar are also chasing a first World Cup win, four years after losing all three group games on home soil in 2022.

Qatar’s campaign will be overseen by former Spain, Real Madrid and West Ham United boss Julen Lopetegui, who is finally arriving at the World Cup eight years after being sacked by Spain on the eve of the 2018 finals.

Lopetegui faces an uphill task to buck Qatar’s World Cup record, with his selection of the 42-year-old Sebastian Soria underscoring the country’s shallow player pool. –AFP

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المصدر: New Straits Times