Canada men's soccer team named Canadian Press team of the year after returning to World Cup

The Canadian men's soccer team, which won a legion of fans in returning to the World Cup for the first time in 36 years, has been voted The Canadian Press team of the year.

It marks the second straight year a soccer team has earned the award. The Canadian women won in 2021 after their Olympic gold-medal performance in Tokyo.

"It's a huge honour," said Canada men's coach John Herdman. "I think it's a testament to the sacrifices, the hard work that's gone in over a couple of decades behind the scenes — the struggles for many of the past players and staff and coaches, for the organization, I think for everyone."

Herdman was also coach of the Canadian women's squad that won the CP team of the year award in 2012 after winning bronze at the London Olympics. He took over the men's team in January 2018 when it was ranked a lowly 94th in the world.

Unlike the Canadian women, who have qualified for seven of the eight previous World Cups and have already booked their ticket to the 2023 tournament in Australia and New Zealand, the Canadian men had only ever made it to one World Cup before Qatar — in 1986 in Mexico where the team failed to register a point or a goal.

Qualifying for Qatar involved a gruelling 20-game schedule for the Canadians, who turned heads by finishing atop the CONCACAF final qualifying round-robin.

Herdman's team sealed qualification on March 27 in a 4-0 win over Jamaica on a chilly afternoon at Toronto's BMO Field.

"A youthful group of talented athletes ended one of Canada's longest droughts in sports history and put the country on the world soccer map," said Victoria Times Colonist sports editor Brian Drewry.

"Rarely has a country — in a non-Olympic year — so rallied around a group of athletes," said The Globe