Canada takes on Honduras in crucial World Cup qualifier

It’s that time again in the calendar where the domestic season takes a pause for international duty. The boys in red  will return to the house of horrors in Honduras as they will try give Canadian fans a better memory than the one we witnessed a decade ago when Canada suffered an 8-1 away defeat.

Times have changed for the better for the Canadian program. Canada currently sits atop the  Concacaf World Cup qualifying table. The Canadians have yet to lose a game, boasting four wins in their first eight games.

Honduras is on a downward trend compared to other World Cup qualifying campaigns. After making it to the big dance in 2010 and 2014, Honduras in 2018 was forced to go to the inter confederation playoffs, losing to Australia in the two-game playoff leg. This time around Honduras sits at the bottom of the table, winless with only five goals scored through eight games so far.

Canada will certainly miss Alphonso Davies on this tour of World Cup qualifying but it’s not all doom and gloom. This roster still boasts a sprinkle of highly skilled players like centre forward Jonathan David of Lille who has 12 goals in the Ligue 1 campaign. Club Brugge’s newest addition Tajon Buchanan will be counted on to help set up the Canadian counter attacks.

Hondouras will lean heavily on their experienced international capped forwards Romell Quioto of CF Montreal and Alberth Elis who is on loan with Bordeaux. Both players have respectively found the back of the net 12 times for their home country on international duty.

Honduras will look to play spoiler as their chances for a 2022 World Cup run is very close to ending. The pressure will definitely be on Canada to grab 3 points in the away match. These two countries played to a 1-1 draw back in September.

If the Canadians want to keep their place on top of the Concacaf table, a win in Honduras is a must especially since their next qualifier comes against the world’s11th-ranked team when Team USA comes to Canada on Jan. 30.