Canada's historic run at World Cup fuels players' hunger for future tournaments

It took little time for Luc de Fougerolles to turn the sting of defeat into motivation for the future.

Just over an hour after Canada was ousted from the FIFA World Cup on Saturday, the 20-year-old defender was already looking ahead to the nation's next run.

"I just can't wait for four years time," he said on Saturday. "I think as a team, we just need to be there. I just want to have another run like this and go further and do even more for the country."

It was a historic tournament for the Canadians, who earned their first point and first win in a men's World Cup, and made it into the knockout round for the first time. Once there, they topped South Africa 1-0 to earn a spot in the Round of 16.

The magical run ended on Saturday with a 3-0 loss to Morocco.

Canadian men's historic World Cup run ends, but achievements can't be overshadowed by loss to Morocco

"The fact that we experienced this stage, the fact that we experienced this game, the best 16, the best 32, I think in the future that's going to help us to really score this type of chances that we have," said vice-captain Stephen Eustaquio.

"I think overall it was a very good experience. And in the future, we're going to use this as fuel and hopefully we're going to be at a better level."

The stakes have been raised for a Canadian program that came into the tournament sitting at No. 30 in FIFA's official rankings.

"Next World Cup, everyone's going to say that anything less than the Round of 16 is a failure, right?" said head coach Jesse Marsch.

Even in Saturday's defeat, the team showed it can compete with the best teams in the world, he added.

Canada out chanced the Moroccans 4-1 across the first half before the game turned on a goal off a freekick in the 50th