MIAMI, Florida – The Final Round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifying is always exciting and full of memorable moments, but for the Final Round of Concacaf WCQ for Qatar 2022, there is some extra sizzle with the heralded returns of Canada and El Salvador to the fold.
Canada are appearing in the Final Round of Concacaf WCQ for the first time since France 1998. In that qualifying campaign, Canada finished sixth out of six teams, and in the five cycles that followed, they fell just shy of reaching the Final Round. However, this time around the expectations will be considerably higher after Canada’s recent performances in Concacaf Gold Cup competition.
In the 2019 Gold Cup, Canada smashed a series of team goal-scoring records on their way to a quarterfinal finish, before bettering that mark two years later in the 2021 Gold Cup when they reached the semifinals, narrowly losing to Mexico 2-1.
Head Coach John Herdman boasts a plethora of weapons going into the 14-game slate, including 2021 Gold Cup Youth Player Award winner MF Tajon Buchanan, 2019 Gold Cup Golden Boot winner FW Jonathan David (6 goals) and 2019-20 UEFA Champions League champion DF Alphonso Davies of Bayern Munich.
There is also FW Cyle Larin, who is the second-leading scorer thus far in Concacaf WCQ for Qatar 2022 with seven goals, plus fellow FW Lucas Cavallini, who has five goals after the first two rounds of qualifying.
Most importantly for Canada, it is a young team that is strong from back to front and poised to not only compete in this Final Round of WCQ, but be a venerable host in 2026 and a tough foe for the cycles that will follow.
For El Salvador, the wait to be back in the Final Round of Concacaf WCQ has been 12 years, when in 2009 they were one of the six teams that vied for a spot at South Africa 2010.
The Cuscatlecos were very competitive throughout the 10-match schedule, including an exciting 2-2 home draw versus the United States, a thrilling 2-1 home victory over Mexico and a dramatic, last-minute 1-0 win against Costa Rica in San Salvador.
In the end, El Salvador would finish fifth in the group, but now after missing out on the Final Round for Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018, El Salvador are hungry to make a statement and qualify for their first FIFA World Cup since Spain 1982.
The Cuscatlecos arrive to the start of the Final Round in great form. David Rugamas leads all players in scoring in Concacaf WCQ with eight goals, while Head Coach Hugo Perez guided his side to a historic Gold Cup campaign over the summer.
El Salvador won two group stage matches for the first time in their history before valiantly falling 3-2 to Qatar in the semifinals.
While it has perhaps been a long time since both Canada and El Salvador featured in the Final Round of Concacaf WCQ, the two sides have the talent to make that wait worthwhile for their fans and qualify for Qatar 2022.
