Who will Canada play in September friendlies for World Cup 2022 preparation?
The Canadian men’s national soccer team will play two friendlies during the September FIFA international break against World Cup teams.
After 36 years in the wilderness, the Canada national soccer team is back at the FIFA World Cup, taking place this year in Qatar in November. Les Rouges are aiming for perfect preparation prior to the start of the tournament and they have confirmed two friendlies for the September international break.
Canada’s upcoming fixtures
The Canadian Soccer Federation confirmed on Wednesday that the national team is scheduled to face Qatar on Friday 23 September and four days later they will play against Uruguay, ranked 13th in the world, in Vienna, Austria. These games will serve as preparation for the FIFA World Cup against two teams that will also participate in the tournament.
“We have an opportunity to experience two FIFA World Cup opponents within a similar time frame as a FIFA World Cup schedule, so these two matches will provide our players and staff with a chance to rehearse our on- and off-the-field processes and systems aligned to the competition’s three-day turnaround,” said John Herdman, Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach. “With the second match against Uruguay, it will be a genuine tier-one test given the depth and quality of their players which gives us an opportunity to evaluate our squad and our approach.”
This is the first time since March 2018 that Canada plays away and against a team that is not from CONCACAF. The Soccer Federation wanted to reduce travel as much as possible and that is why both friendlies will be played in Europe prior to making the trip to Qatar.
The fixture against host city Qatar will be the first game against an Asian opponent since November 2016 for the Canadian national soccer team. The match against Uruguay will be the first international matchup against a team from CONMEBOL since 2014 for Les Rouges.