The Canadian Men's Soccer Team Thread

[CroFlames]

Watching Flames vs Minnesota in February on a -30 Tuesday night will cost you $300.



I'd gladly spend that on a WC group stage match.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Decent seats, group matches are about $200 and get increasing more expensive to the final which is about $700. But you can get packages by city or by group or by country whatever.
In 1994, I went to the 6 games in Dallas, Cotton Bowl, for less than $300. But that seems like ages ago.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...ticket-prices/

That is ages ago. Doesn't just seem like it.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Cappy

I think we would all choose Van over Edmonton at the end of the day - FIFA included

Edmonton has continually proven it is capable of hosting these large events and has solid fan support. Outdoor venue is probably better than indoor, and there's that whole grass vs. turf thing. Plus Edmonton is a more central location in western Canada for fan travel.

[CroFlames]

Edmonton is a great sports town, despite the fact that it is kind of dumpy.

The stadium itself is terrible, but it's also big which honestly is a huge positive. The crowd noise at the CRC match was unbelievable.

If FIFA demands grass (they will), then all the retrofit money will go to that, and frankly that's OK too. I don't need to be wined and dined with fancy luxuries at the stadium if I'm yelling my ####ing head off at a Canada WC match. All I ask is that they streamline security and add about 1,000 mobile beer vendors.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

That is ages ago. Doesn't just seem like it.

It is!


World Cup matches haven't gone up in price that much in the grand scheme of things, maybe doubled in 30 years. And that's for a once in a lifetime hosting event. Better than what the Flames gouge us for 41+ times a year.


You can go on ebay and look at old ticket stubs for pricing.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

If FIFA demands grass (they will), then all the retrofit money will go to that, and frankly that's OK too. I don't need to be wined and dined with fancy luxuries at the stadium if I'm yelling my ####ing head off at a Canada WC match. All I ask is that they streamline security and add about 1,000 mobile beer vendors.

There is work behind the scenes to prepare for it as a potential FIFA stadium.

[Muta]

Can confirm. Still in the very early stages, but those Commonwealth wheels are turning as we speak.

[lazypucker]

Horgan made a dumb decision back then by telling CSA/FIFA thanks but no thanks for hosting. Now he regrets what he did and tries to backtrack.

Unless BC finds a way to stuff the pockets of CSA/FIFA officials, the chance of Vancouver getting to host any games will be very slim.

[rubecube]

Can someone explain to me how the pots work like I'm a 5 year-old?

[Scornfire]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Can someone explain to me how the pots work like I'm a 5 year-old?

Best I could figure was the *Actual* groupings for the cup are drawn from the pot, so you'd have (I think) 1 Pot 1/2/3/4 country in each group. Moving up to Pot 3 would mean we'd get another lower rank team with us, whereas if we're pot 4 we could get grouped with only higher quality teams (though the ranking don't seem terribly representative to me atm)

I'm pretty sure I have at least half of that wrong

[Trojan97]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Can someone explain to me how the pots work like I'm a 5 year-old?

Rank all the qualified teams + host team from best to worst based on the FIFA rankings (except Qatar) and then split them into 4 pots comprised of 8 teams.

Pot 1 is the seven highest ranked countries + host country (Qatar)
Pot 2 is the next highest ranked 8 countries
Pot 3 the next highest ranked 8
Pot 4 the lowest ranked 8 countries to qualify

A random draw picks one team from each pot to form each four team group. No soccer federation can have more than 1 country in each group (except UEFA who can have 2) is my understanding. Had to wiki the date it looks the draw is happening on April 1.

This is not the only way it has been done, historically there have been World Cups where pot 1 is based on world ranking with the top 7 + host and the remaining pots are established based on geographical location of the countries participating. From what I understand it hasn't been announced which format will be used for this World Cup but the consensus seems to be they will go with the ranking system?

The benefit to Canada sneaking into pot three is you get to face a team ranked below you from pot 4 + avoid the teams directly ahead of you in pot 3. Ideally you would get into a group with Qatar as your pot 1 team and a team like New Zealand as your pot 4 opponent which would give you two games where you are likely favoured in the group stage (wishful thinking).

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

Horgan made a dumb decision back then by telling CSA/FIFA thanks but no thanks for hosting. Now he regrets what he did and tries to backtrack.

Unless BC finds a way to stuff the pockets of CSA/FIFA officials, the chance of Vancouver getting to host any games will be very slim.

You have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes.

[Yoho]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1491822843612520448

[GirlySports]

I don't think Canada will win all three games. In fact I predict they lose their next game to as desperate Costa Rica.

But even so, there are more scenarios. Not all African ties produce winners. You could qualify with two draws (away goal or penalties)

And the Europeans, those also could be draws and penalties.

Cheer for Scotland, Russia, Ghana, Egypt, Mali, and DR Congo! And alot of draws.

[CedarMeter]

[MegaErtz]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I don't think Canada will win all three games. In fact I predict they lose their next game to as desperate Costa Rica.

But even so, there are more scenarios. Not all African ties produce winners. You could qualify with two draws (away goal or penalties)

And the Europeans, those also could be draws and penalties.

Cheer for Scotland, Russia, Ghana, Egypt, Mali, and DR Congo! And alot of draws.

There is only one person in this thread that has been predicting Canadian losses, and let's keep it that way.

[Yoho]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1491991188907380736

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by MegaErtz

There is only one person in this thread that has been predicting Canadian losses, and let's keep it that way.

Haha true. But we want the Americans to sweat. Americans in 4th will also put Canada in Pot 3. I don't know what Herdman will do but I would rest against Costa Rica to put max effort in the last 2. We have the depth

Canada is in. They will pummel Jamaica in Toronto.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Yoho

https://twitter.com/user/status/1491991188907380736

Lame. Edmonton should have been rewarded for their support in November.

Canada had a strong start to the Ocho with those draws, but they really started to believe in themselves after the Edmonton matches IMO. The crowd in Edmonton was fantastic and really was the 12th man. We deserved a honeymoon match before the Finals.


We better get a premium South American or European opponent in a summer friendly. And when I say premium, I mean BRA, ARG, ENG, ITA etc.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Lame. Edmonton should have been rewarded for their support in November.

Canada had a strong start to the Ocho with those draws, but they really started to believe in themselves after the Edmonton matches IMO. The crowd in Edmonton was fantastic and really was the 12th man. We deserved a honeymoon match before the Finals.


We better get a premium South American or European opponent in a summer friendly. And when I say premium, I mean BRA, ARG, ENG, ITA etc.

Travel is probably the issue. The November window was perfect since Canada didn't have to travel for the two games in Edmonton. Lucky draw on the scheduling.