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Fans at Canada Soccer House in North Vancouver ride an emotional roller coaster during the national team’s loss to Morocco at the World Cup in Houston on Saturday.Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters
From jam-packed fan festivals, sports bars and living rooms, under relentless Texas heat and drizzling Ontario rain, Canadians reacted to the end of the country’s historic World Cup run with pride and gratitude, celebrating a men’s national team that delivered the country’s greatest run in the tournament.
Canada was eliminated from the World Cup on Saturday with a painful 3-0 loss to Morocco in a hard-fought match in the round of 16. Supporters, while expectedly disappointed, viewed the loss not as a heartbreaking collapse but as the end of a remarkable run that has unified a nation and raised the profile of the team.
Andrea Chrysanthou, from Toronto, spent a full day in transit to get to the stadium in Houston as part of a group of nearly 20 Canadian supporters. She emerged from the climate-controlled venue into the 35 C heat saying the group was feeling blessed.
“That first half was the best I’ve ever seen from the team, and today is history. We’ve never made it this far,” she said. “If anything, I want to say thank you to the team for bringing us together. Thank you for playing your hearts out.”
Chrysanthou described members of the team as “wonderful representatives of what it means to be Canadian.”
“They were classy, they were gentlemen, they worked hard and I couldn’t be more proud.”
Team Canada was under no illusions about the challenge it faced. Morocco is seventh in the world in FIFA’s latest official rankings, compared to Canada’s 30th; they were semi-finalists in the 2022 World Cup and entered Saturday’s game on a 33-match winning streak.
A day earlier, Canada’s head coach, Jesse Marsch, told a news conference in Houston that Morocco’s team “has literally zero weaknesses” and that his squad is in for a “massive challenge” – statements so complimentary that Moroccan media questioned whether it was some sort of psychological tactic to shift pressure on to their nation’s team.
“It’s the reality of the situation,” Marsch responded.
Canada’s World Cup journey ends with knockout loss to Morocco
Dan Bedford, who travelled to Houston from Ottawa with his son, Perry, for Saturday’s game, said the two were proud of how far the team made it.
“The round of 16 is pretty incredible,” he said while leaving the stadium. The duo wore red Canada jerseys, red and white face paint and Canada flag capes.
Perry Bedford said “losing to Morocco 3-0 kind of sucks,” given that Canada “only” lost to the African nation 2-1 in the 2022 World Cup, but perked up when asked what Canada’s performance means for soccer in the country.
“I think it’ll level up,” said Perry, who aspires to play for the team one day. “The players will get a lot better since everybody’s more interested in soccer now.”
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Canadian soccer fans Dan Bedford and his son Perry wait for an Uber after attending the loss to Morocco in Houston on Saturday.Jesse Winter/The Globe and Mail
The team received a swell of support back in Canada.
In North Vancouver, the Canada Soccer House fan site reached its capacity of 5,000 in the hour before kickoff, a diverse mix of supporters young and old at the family-friendly location. The group mirrored the energy of the team throughout the physical but goalless first half.
In the second, two goals by Morocco’s Azzedine Ounahi cast a hush over the crowd. There were hands on cheeks, hands on foreheads, hands over mouths agape. The third by Soufiane Rahimi prompted some to start filing out of the fan site.
Eddie Mishra, from Coquitlam, B.C., leaned against a gate staring into the distance at the game’s conclusion. He said he was saddened by the outcome but had to give credit to Canada’s boys for making it as far as they did.
“They played the [seventh] world ranked team, made it really good, a solid effort. What more can you ask for?” he said.
“It’s unifying to be together through the ups and downs. We’re Canadian. It just speaks volumes of our countrymen, what kind of kind of people we are. Resilient, right?”
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Dora Xie and her nine-year-old son, Tai, said there was pride enough in being able to take in their first World Cup together in such an electric atmosphere.
“I think this is a very valuable experience for him, not just watching at home, to feel the excitement of this big game and the honour of Canada,” said Xie, who moved to North Vancouver from Beijing two years ago. “I feel so proud of being here as part of this game.”
Tai, usually a basketball kid, says he’ll likely start watching soccer now.
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Fans at a watch party in Brampton, Ont., react to Morocco’s second goal, which effectively sealed the game in the 82nd minute.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
At Vancouver’s fan festival at the PNE amphitheatre, a trickle of fans that started clearing out after Morocco’s second goal turned into a river of departing dejected supporters with their third.
Carson Yip, nine, and Dayman Wong, seven, wiped away tears and said they were proud.
“I think they still played good,” said Carson, a Canada flag draped around his shoulders like a cape and smudged glasses sliding down his nose.
“They’ve never made it to the sixteens,” Dayman pointed out.
Dayman is now planning to cheer for Portugal because Cristiano Ronaldo “is a really good player,” but Carson said the wound was still too fresh to pick a team.
The run has inspired both boys to get back to playing soccer soon, and they offered some blunt words of advice to Canada for next time.
“They did a good job, and if they ever make it back to the 16, they can try harder and they’ll succeed,” Carson said.
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Levin Cardoso watched the ‘heartbreaking’ finish at Garden Square in Brampton, the hometown of several Canada players.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
At Brampton’s Garden Square, Levin Cardoso found himself in melancholy.
“The last goal, it was heartbreaking, definitely,” he said. “But the whole game was us. The whole game was Canada’s.”
Cardoso reflected on the pride generated by the team’s historic streak, but lamented that the day has necessitated a change of plans for his group.
“We thought of going and sitting in some pub today, but we’ll go to church now and pray,” he said.