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Canadian men to face U.S. in Hamilton in January World Cup qualifier

Nov 25, 2021 | 6:53 PM

It’s time for another cold one. Canada will host the U.S. at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field in a Jan. 30 World Cup qualifier.

The match will be sandwiched around Canadian visits to Honduras on Jan. 27 and El Salvador on Feb. 2.

It will mark the first time the Canadian men have played in Hamilton. The Canadian women last played there in June 2018, losing 3-2 to Germany.

The Canadian men are no strangers to playing in a winter wonderland, having dispatched Mexico 2-1 in a snowy Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton earlier this month.

Canada, currently ranked 40th in the world, and the 12th-ranked U.S. played to a 1-1 tie when they met Sept. 5 in Nashville.

Canada (4-0-4, 16 points) currently tops the eight-team CONCACAF final qualifying round standings, ahead of the U.S. (4-1-3, 15 points), Mexico (4-2-2, 14 points) and Panama (4-2-2, 14 points).

Come March, the top three will qualify for Qatar 2022, representing North and Central America and the Caribbean, with the fourth-place team taking part in an intercontinental playoff to see who joins them.

The draw for the two intercontinental playoffs, which will feature teams from CONCACAF, AFC (Asia), CONMEBOL (South America) and the OFC (Oceania) will be held Friday in Zurich.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2021

The Canadian Press