French soccer player Dominique Rocheteau tries to protect the ball from Canadian Ian Bridge during the first half of the group C World Cup opening game, 01 June 1986 in Mexico. AFP via Getty ImagesSTAFF/Getty Images
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It’s been forty years since a ragtag Canadian team made its unlikely World Cup debut. On this episode of Pitch and Power, host Eoin O’Callaghan and guests Jay Baruchel and 1986 team member Colin Miller unpack the public indifference and skepticism that greeted Canada’s soccer pioneers, who briefly stood on the world stage before vanishing from public memory.
How have self-doubt, underfunding, and a series of inexplicable choices shaped Canada’s relationship with soccer? And can recent successes and the upcoming co-hosted World Cup break the cycle?