Very few remember the last time Canada participated in the Men's World Cup, and those who do remember are probably over 30 years old.
It was in 1986 in the World Cup held in Mexico. With the Aztec team already qualified as a host, FIFA decided that CONCACAF will only get one place to be decided through the qualifying process. Only one team would get the ticket.
The preliminar round was an easy one for Canada, since Jamaica was expelled by the FIFA so the national team advanced through the round without even having to play one game. The rest of the way would not be that easy.
Canada advanced to the first qualifying round to face a Round Robin group with Guatemala and Haiti as rivals. Two wins in Victoria in April 1985 cleared the way for Canada. Haiti was defeated 2-0 and Guatemala also lost against the Canadian team by a result of 2-1.
In May Canada secured a spot in the next round by tying in Guatemala (1-1) and defeating Haiti again in Puerto Principe (0-2). Even though Guatemala crushed the Haitians in the last game (4-0), Canada led the group to qualify for the final Round.
The final Round would be another Round Robin, facing the other two group winners from the round 1, Costa Rica (who would qualify for the 1990 tournament) and Honduras (who qualified for the 1982 tournament and was considered the favorite).
In August 1985 the final round started with not a very good result, a tie against Costa Rica in Toronto (1-1). However that very same month Team Canada got a huge win in Honduras (0-1), climbing to the top of the group, a position that would never leave.
In September Team Canada managed to stay alive and surviving the game in Costa Rica, getting yet one more point thanks to a 0-0 tie.
Honduras defeated Costa Rica so the last game would be played in Saint John. Canada would face Honduras. Both teams reached the game ranked 1 and 2 in the group. For Team Canada, a tie would be enough to qualify. Honduras was forced to get the win if they wanted to succeed.
Team Canada played it safe and they even got the win (2-1) securing the one and only FIFA WORLD CUP participation in the history of the Canadian Men's soccer.
It was a huge success, the fact that Canada was one of the 24 participants in Mexico 1986 was a very high reward for that Canadian team.
Hopes of doing a nice tournament were low though, due to the lack of experience in such competitions and to the fact that the draw was not particularly beneficial for the Canadian interests.
Canada would play in Group C, alongside the Soviet Union and France, two of the most powerful teams of the tournament. Hungary completed the group.
The first two teams on each group would advance, together with the best 4 3rd ranked teams from amongst all the groups.
The major part of the Canadian team was formed by players that were playing in minor leagues in Canada or the U.S, with the exception of Randy Samuel (PSV Eindhoven) and Colin Miller (Glasgow Rangers).
Canada started with a loss to France (0-1) in what was a very good game of the Canadian team. They almost got a tie with the European Champion France, with players such as Amoros, Tigana, Papen, Luis Fernandez or Michel Platini. The image of the Canadian team was not bad at all, but in the end, the two points went to France. Canada held the powerful French attack until the 79th minute when Jean Pierre Papen finally found the back of the net. Earlier in the game, Mike Sweeney's effort was stopped by the cross bar in what would have been an 0-1 Canadian lead.
However the chances of advancing to the first knock out stage were destroyed after a defeat in the second game against Hungary (2-0).
Canada needed the miracle of defeating the Soviet Union in the last game to have any chance of advancing. The Soviets overplayed the Canadians and won the game 2-0, putting an end to the one and only Canadian run in the World Cup history.
