Team Of Distinction: Canada In The FIFA World Cup 1986

Canada In The FIFA World Cup
By Asif Hossain, Toronto FC

Part I
A wonderful moment will take place on the evening of June 6 following the Toronto FC v. Los Angeles Galaxy match. The only Canadian Men’s National Team squad to have ever taken part in the World Cup Finals will be inducted into The Soccer Hall of Fame in Vaughan, Ontario receiving the Hall & Museum’s Team of Distinction Award.

Toronto FC will also recognize several members of the squad prior to the game against the Galaxy, including a former Canadian international defender and the President of our rival Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Bob Lenarduzzi. Excerpts of my telephone interview with Mr. Lenarduzzi and other players who took part in the Mexico ’86 Finals will appear next week in Part II.

What may get lost in the adulation and applause is the extraordinary difficulties that the Canadian side endured in trying to simply field a squad of 11 players in time for Mexico. In 1986 the World Cup Finals allowed only 24 entrants and even more exclusively, just 1 from the North and Central America Group (CONCACAF) since Mexico as host was already in the tournament. Today in comparison a total of 32 countries, of which 3 (plus potentially one playoff team) from our region earns a place at the biggest sporting event on the planet every four years. Thus the ’86 side had to be the very best from North and Central American qualifications to get through.

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Part II
Last week I looked at the management side of Canada’s journey to the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico. This week I was fortunate enough to speak to some of the players who made up the squad that will be inducted into The Soccer Hall of Fame & Museum on Saturday June 6 in Vaughan, Ontario.

One important background story of the Canadian World Cup Qualifications was the side’s appearance in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where Canada progressed all the way to the Quarterfinals earning a 1-1 extra time result against Brazil, before losing 5-3 on penalties.

The man who scored 3 goals in that tournament for The Canucks, including a 58th minute strike against Brazil and another that was called back, was former Canadian National Team head coach and Canada’s all-time leading goal scorer, Dale Mitchell. Canada’s momentum “started (with) qualifying for the Olympics and carried all the way to the qualifications and Mexico,” Mr. Mitchell told me when we spoke this week. He was also one of the many Canadian players that were playing indoor soccer exclusively to prepare for the World Cup. “A couple of qualifiers felt a little strange to switch from indoors to outdoors, but Tony Waiters (head coach) and Les Wilson (manager) did a good job of keeping the team together.”

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