Westhills Stadium will play host to a crucial game between Canada and Trinidad and Tobago in the lead up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The match on March 27 will give Vancouver Island fans the chance to see national team stars such as 19-year-old Bayern-Munich sensation Alphonso Davies take to the pitch.
Canada’s national team coach John Herdman made the announcement alongside Canada Soccer’s chief marketing officer Sandra Gage and Pacific FC. CEO Rob Friend. Herdman was on hand for the first Pacific FC game last season.
‘” got to see first hand what this place can be like when the fans are here and I want my players to feel that. I want them to feel they have a 12th person behind them,” Herdman said.
For Friend, the game serves as an opportunity to grow the national team’s footprint on the island.
“We want to create not only a Pacific identity but a men’s and women’s national identity where they can come here and get results and a tough place to play,” Friend said.
Even though the game is labelled as a friendly, it could have major implications on Canada’s aim at qualifying for the World Cup. Canada currently sits seventh in the Concacaf rankings, just 14 points behind El Salvador for sixth.
The team needs just a few more points to work their way into the Concacaf Hex, which pits the top six Concacaf League A teams together for three World Cup berths. Since fall, Canada has garnered more FIFA ranking points then any other League A team. The Canadian Men’s Team has not qualified for a World Cup since 1986.
There’s also a second match scheduled for Tuesday, March 31 but according to Canada Soccer, tickets for that game will only go on sale if the Friday match is a sellout.
Tickets for the first match go on sale Thursday, Feb. 20 at 10 a.m.
Cole Sorenson
