When you represent your country at the highest level for more than 20 years, and you are often unsuccessfully trying to find your way in international soccer, you see a few things. And Atiba Hutchinson, who captained Canada to the World Cup in 2022, certainly lived more of those moments than most in the history of the program. He played for a Canadian team that was as low as 122 in the FIFA world rankings and one that finally showed promise four years ago.
He witnessed the rise, then blossoming, of the country's biggest star yet, Alphonso Davies, his successor in the captaincy. And in leading the team to Qatar 2022, Hutchinson helped Canada end a 36-year drought from the global spectacle. So if four years ago was the biggest step yet, what will the 2026 World Cup, which begins for co-host Canada on Friday, mean for the future of the sport here?
Inspiration for a generation
"World Cups always have a huge impact on the way children look at the game and it can inspire a generation," Hutchinson said in an interview. "But a home World Cup? I think it will be massive." Hutchinson reckons it's impossible to overstate the significance of the Qatar appearance for the trajectory of the often beleaguered Canadian program. It didn't bring advancement beyond group play and it didn't even see Canada win a game, but it generated hope.
"Qatar helped in a big way," Hutchinson said. "I started to feel it in the building before because the team was doing well. But playing in it and coming back and seeing how football really took off here was amazing. Now with it being here in Canada, it just takes us to a whole other level."
The enthusiasm bubbling in Toronto, where Canada will begin its tournament journey against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, will carry on to Vancouver for at least two more matches. Hutchinson, who will be working as an analyst for TSN throughout the tournament, has lived the experience of Canada Soccer's evolution on the men's side. He shared a number of his thoughts on the past and present of the team in an interview with the Toronto Sun.
What should we expect from Canada?
Allowing for the injuries that have ravaged the squad the past several months, Hutchinson sees opportunity matching optimism and feels the Canadian team is fully capable of achieving historic results. "If everyone is feeling really good and we've got our full squad, then we're a dangerous team and I think we can honestly play against the best," Hutchinson said. "I still think there's another level that the team can get to, and we've seen in the Copa America how well they could perform. I think we still got room to grow, and the sky's the limit for these guys. They have so much confidence and that has a really strong impact on how these guys can go out there and play with a lot of belief in themselves."
Hutchinson's one sobering caution is the injuries that have bordered on decimating the team, starting with Davies, making it imperative that stars emerge over the weeks ahead. "Obviously, you are going to need one or two players to be playing at a very high level to really hit good form very early in the tournament," Hutchinson said. "I think if we have a really good start in that first game, we can get a big result and go from there. That would be a huge relief for the team."
How times have changed
As mentioned, Hutchinson has seen lows, many of them, from the Canadian team, at times humiliatingly so. From dysfunction, to lack of depth, to a program lacking direction, the idea of Canada being a contender to advance, never mind a tournament co-host, was impossible to fathom. "I've been with the team when you go out there and there are a lot of losses and it really brings you down," Hutchinson says of those low years. "And it's really hard to get over that. There were times where we had a decent team but we couldn't go out there and have solid performances and get results. You need to get those results and then the belief starts to grow."
This is key, Hutchinson believes, to the success (and potential for more) going forward from the current group. "(Marsch) has done a great job at that, really having these guys play at a high level and continue to go out there against some of the best countries in the world and put out strong performances. I've seen the growth in this team. We've had quality in the past, but we haven't had the depth that we see now." That growth is tangible in many areas, in Hutchinson's opinion. "With this team specifically, you're seeing so much quality in these guys that are playing with some big clubs in Europe and the MLS and continuing to do well and really make a name for themselves. So you're finding players going out there and getting that experience and gaining confidence that they can play with the best in the world. Also, you're seeing so many more players knocking on the door to get in and that gives us so much more depth. The growth has been exponential over the last four years for sure."
The Alphonso Davies question
Like any serious observer of the Canadian team, Hutchinson says it's impossible to overstate the significance of captain Davies, a player he calls "one of the best in the world at his position." "I think he'll have a huge impact in the team, and I think it'll bring a lot of confidence," says Davies' predecessor as captain of Canada. "He's grown to be more of a leader. Right before I stopped with the team, I started seeing him become more of a vocal player, and really taking that leadership to another level. He's been around and played at the top levels and that goes a long way for these young players. He's lived and breathed these moments."
That and his experience in elite competition with Bayern Munich make him invaluable. And then there's the sublime skill. "He's frightening when he's going forward and so difficult to keep up with," Hutchinson. "He's a smart player and you see him getting better every year. The experience he has playing the biggest and the best games of the world and then the experience of playing in the World Cup, this time around he's been through it. He's going to want to go out there and give that much more because it didn't go as planned last time."
Hutchinson doesn't have any intel on Davies' recovery from his hamstring injury. But he does believe easing him into action may be in the plans. "I don't think he'll be ready for the first game, but it would be great if we could see him in the second," Hutchinson said. "Coming off the bench for some minutes and then being fully ready for the third game would be great. But to be fair, I don't know where he is with his training and how he's feeling."
Can Canada win a game?
With so much talk of Canada's favourable path to waltz through Group play – a realistic prognostication given the expanded format and a light-looking Group B – should it come, what will the country's first win in a World Cup match feel like? Hutchinson gets excited at the mere thought, given the lows he's seen with the program and seeing Canada fall short of that objective in 2022. "That was something we were looking for in Qatar, even up to our last match, because we knew how much it would mean to the country," Hutchinson said. "If we can get that first result early in the tournament, I think it will be massive because then obviously you push on from there with a lot of confidence and hopefully get out of the group. But just getting three points … that is going to mean a lot. I know everybody in Canada is expecting more than that, so hopefully we get it in the first game then really go on from there."
