While some soccer fans in Canada are feeling elation over the country's World Cup qualification, others are less certain where their allegiances will lie when the showcase tournament kicks off this year.
The Canadian men’s soccer team clinched a berth in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar Sunday with a 4-0 win over Jamaica. It marked a historic moment, as its just the second time the team has reached the World Cup and the first time since 1986.
But Canada's multicultural makeup, a source of strength and pride for the nation, may also provide some soul-searching as to who to cheer for in the world’s biggest international soccer tournament.
It’s been 36 years since Canada last played in the World Cup, and in that time many fans have turned to their ancestral backgrounds. Once the tournament rolls around once every four years, it’s not uncommon to see parts of Canadian cities lit up with the flags of England, Italy, Germany, Brazil and other nations as Canadians celebrate their unique origins.
With Canada in it this year, however, that could very well change.
“The first part of my origin story internationally beyond Canada is I tell people that the 1990 World Cup is one that I really first remember, and England went to the semifinals in that one, so that really imprinted on me,” said Duane Rollins, a Toronto based YouTuber who hosts the soccer show SoccerToday and traces his ancestral background to the British Isles. “Now, I’m a fan of England, but I support Canada.”
The same goes for Voyageur member James Covey, a Halifax man who’s family background originates from Italy and helped organize the supporters group for the HFX Wanderers FC of the Canadian Premier League.
“For me, it’s really easy. If it’s a choice between Italy and Canada, I’d support Canada,” Covey said. “It’s actually really simple for me. For me, Canada is the country I was born in, the country I grew up in, the country I live in and so, for me, supporting Canada takes priority.”
It’s perhaps easier for Covey to make such a declaration because Italy failed to reach the 2022 World Cup, but for others, such as English ex-pat Aidan Misfud, who has lived in Canada for 20 years, it may not be so simple.
Especially if Canada were to draw into a group with England at the tournament.
“My allegiance is definitely, when it comes to watching the World Cup, is going to be with England,” Misfud said. “But I’m going to want Canadians to do very, very well. So, I always think of the worst-case scenario if England and Canada were in the same group I would want Canada to win their other games, but not beat England.”
But while Misfud believes England and Canada possibly meeting up is the worst-case scenario, it’s the exact opposite for Rollins.
“I kind of want to draw England,” Rollins said. "We’ve never played them in my lifetime (on the men’s side) . . . So I would love to see it in a the World Cup. I would see that more as a celebration more than anything that would conflict me."
Individual conflicts are one thing, but with Canada in the World Cup, there’s also the possibility of some friendly familial ones, too.
First-generation Canadian Peter Galindo, who is a soccer writer for Sportsnet and MLS, is the host of an English-speaking podcast that covers the Peruvian national soccer team — which is in the midst of its own World Cup qualifying campaign. He has greater allegiance to Canada as his home country, while his father feels the same for Peru.
If Canada were to draw Peru in the World Cup, things may get heated in the Galindo household.
“If it did happen, first of all, I don’t think my dad and I would be on speaking terms for a bit,” Galindo joked. “He still supports Peru first, but Canada second.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2022.
Steven Loung, The Canadian Press
