Canada on verge of World Cup after win in El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Captain Atiba Hutchinson, on the verge of his 39th birthday, and young gun Jonathan David ensured unbeaten Canada kept rolling towards Qatar 2022.

Their two very different goals produced a gritty 2-0 win over El Salvador on Wednesday — the sixth straight victory for the Canadian men, who remain atop the eight-team standings in the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

It was the latest chapter in a remarkable story that is enlarging a Canadian soccer bandwagon that grew substantially last summer when the women's won Olympic gold.

Coach John Herdman said he reminded his players before the match that there's "a whole country behind you now."

With three games remaining, Canada (7-0-4, 25 points) has a four-point cushion over Mexico and the U.S. (both 6-2-3, 21 points). Panama (5-3-2, 17 points) stands fourth, with Costa Rica (4-3-4, 16 points) fifth.

Come the end of March, the top three countries will represent North and Central America and the Caribbean in Qatar. The fourth-placed finisher will face an Oceania team in an intercontinental playoff to see who joins them.

Canada emerged with a maximum nine points from the three-game, seven-day FIFA window following 2-0 victories over Honduras, in San Pedro Sula, and the U.S., in Hamilton.

"The boys have executed. They've had that clarity and the confidence is there," said Herdman. "There's a real confidence that we're going to find a way and get the job done. So today was just another step … It's going to happen, we know it going to happen."

Wednesday results essentially means Canada can finish no lower than fourth.

Canada wraps up qualifying play at Costa Rica on March 23, at home to Jamaica on March 26 and at Panama on March 29.

Herdman