What to know for Canada’s latest set of World Cup qualifiers

The schedule: This window kicks off with Canada’s hardest check of qualifying to date: a go to to Mexico Metropolis’s notorious Estadio Azteca to face the highest-ranked crew within the CONCACAF area (Mexico is No. 9 on the planet — 42 spots above Canada). That is Thursday at 9:40 p.m. ET. Then comes an away match vs. 59th-ranked Jamaica on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET, adopted by a house date vs. No. 68 Panama on Oct. 13 at Toronto’s BMO Area.

The standings: With 5 factors by means of three matches, Canada is tied for second place in CONCACAF’s last eight-team group. The U.S. and Panama even have 5 factors, whereas Mexico sits atop all of them with seven (a win is value three factors, a draw one). Fast refresher on how this last spherical works: the eight remaining CONCACAF groups play one another twice (one residence, one away) and the highest three earn a spot within the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The fourth-place crew will get yet one more shot to play its means in by way of a two-leg playoff vs. somebody from one other continent.

What’s subsequent: After this set of matches wraps up subsequent week, three extra regional qualifying home windows (with a complete of eight matches) stay. Canada will host Costa Rica on Nov. 12 and Mexico on Nov. 15 at cleverly chosen Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, which could really feel fairly chilly to guests from the south. The ultimate two home windows, each consisting of three matches, happen in late January/early February and late March. The intercontinental playoff will occur in June. The 2022 World Cup kicks off in late November — moved from the normal June/July window to flee Qatar’s insufferable summer season warmth and humidity.

The outlook: Of the three matches on this upcoming window, Thursday night time’s at Azteca actually appears probably the most daunting. The Canadian males’s crew has by no means gained at that stadium, and so they’re dealing with a superior squad. However Canada gave the Mexicans a run for his or her cash this summer season on the CONCACAF Gold Cup, falling 2-1 in a hard-fought semifinal in Houston that was determined within the ninth minute of stoppage time. And that was with Canada’s two greatest gamers — Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David — out with accidents. Each are anticipated to play Thursday, with Davies recovered from a minor knee harm that brought about him to overlook Canada’s win over El Salvador final month. The marvellous 20-year-old left-back has began all 4 of Bayern Munich’s matches since he acquired harm within the Canada-U.S. qualifier. David, a 21-year-old ahead who performs his membership soccer at Lille, is tied for the scoring lead within the French league with six targets in 4 matches this season. With these two younger stars main the best way, there’s actual hope that the Canadian males’s crew can attain its first World Cup since 1986. Read a full preview of Canada’s upcoming matches by soccer expert John Molinaro here.

Males’s nationwide soccer crew travels to Mexico to kick off October World Cup qualifier window

Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David and the Canadian males’s nationwide soccer crew journey to Mexico and Jamaica for Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying matches earlier than heading residence to BMO subject to face Panama. Michael Singh, managing editor of Waking the Purple, joins CBC’s Signa Butler to preview the three-match fixture record. 5:36

Rapidly…

Canada’s spot within the subsequent males’s curling world championship is being challenged. It should not be a lot of a problem, however reigning Brier champ Brendan Bottcher’s rink should beat Brazil and Mexico later this month after these nations exercised a rarely-used proper to make Canada win its spot within the subsequent worlds. The Americas area is granted two entries within the match, and certainly one of them belongs to america, which is internet hosting it in Las Vegas in April. Often, the opposite spot is conceded to Canada. However this time, Bottcher’s crew should get rid of the light-weight Brazilian and Mexican groups in a double round-robin competitors Oct. 29-31 in Alberta. When you’re pondering this may lead to a real-life, curling model of The Mighty Geese, overlook it. The one different time such a problem occurred, in 2018, Glenn Howard’s rink swept a best-of-five collection vs. Brazil that included a 15-1 rating in one of many video games. Read more about the upcoming Canada-Brazil-Mexico “showdown” here.

Alpine snowboarding’s strangest occasion could be toast. The “mixed” self-discipline, which pairs a slalom with a downhill or super-G, is supposed to find out the perfect all-around skier. And it is attracted some nice ones over time. Girls’s GOAT Lindsey Vonn gained the mixed World Cup season title 3 times and took gold on the world championships twice. Mikaela Shiffrin captured the world title this 12 months and Olympic silver in 2018. Eight-time males’s World Cup general champ Marcel Hirscher owns an Olympic and world title within the mixed. Nevertheless it’s now thought-about unpopular and outdated and, after years of being slowly phased out, may quickly be gone totally. The brand new World Cup season, which begins in a number of weeks, doesn’t have any mixed races, and a few consider the 2022 Beijing Olympics could be the final hurrah for the self-discipline on the sport’s highest stage. Read more about the possible end of the original Olympic alpine event here.

One other marquee matchup is on deck tonight within the baseball playoffs. Final night time, Boston prevented one other Bucky F—— Dent second by beating the archrival Yankees 6-2 of their one-game American League wild-card showdown at Fenway Park. The Purple Sox will now face Tampa Bay whereas the Chicago White Sox meet Houston within the AL Division Sequence, which open tomorrow night time. The Nationwide League matchups will probably be finalized tonight when the resurgent St. Louis Cardinals go to Dodger Stadium for a wild-card one-off vs. defending World Sequence champion Los Angeles. St. Louis gained 17 consecutive video games in September to barge into the post-season. The Dodgers gained a franchise-record-tying 106 video games this 12 months — solely to see San Francisco steal the NL West with 107. The winner of the wild-card sport faces the Giants, whereas Atlanta and Milwaukee sq. off within the different NL collection. These start Friday.

You are up to the mark. Discuss to you tomorrow.