United States vs Canada

The United States and Canada will trade tackles at Nissan Stadium in a high-profile 2022 World Cup qualifying showdown.

Fresh from conquering the 2021 Gold Cup, courtesy of a penalty shoot-out triumph over arch-rivals Mexico in the grand final, the United States are aiming for their first World Cup finals appearance since 2014. An underwhelming goalless draw away to El Salvador in their World Cup qualifying curtain-raiser has already thrown a spanner in the works. However, the USA’s rock-solid backline continued to impress as the ‘USMNT’ have now racked up seven clean sheets across their previous eight internationals, doing so in the last five in a row. But if the ‘Yanks’ fail to extend their two-game winning streak against Canada, a road to Qatar 2022 could be steep. Yet, a run of six consecutive home victories by an aggregate score of 28-3 sums up the USA’s favorite status in a nutshell.

On the other hand, Canada’s chase of only their second-ever World Cup finals appearance and first since 1986 began with a dismal 1-1 home draw with Honduras. As a result, the ‘Canucks’ have now failed to pick up a victory in three of their last four competitive fixtures (D1, L2), scoring under 1.5 goals in each game they didn’t win in that sequence. The visitors can at least take some comfort in winning their last five away internationals by an aggregate score of 27-2, albeit it’s worth noting all of those triumphs came against the nations ranked outside FIFA’s top-80. Additionally, the Canadians have failed to secure a win in 13 of their last 14 H2H meetings with the USA (D4, L9 – 90 mins only), drawing a blank on 11 occasions in the process.