Canada's men's soccer team heads to El Salvador with outside chance to officially qualify for World Cup

The Canadian men flew south to El Salvador on Tuesday to take the next step on their remarkable World Cup qualifying journey.

And while coach John Herdman and the players keep their eye on the prize, they know the support they have behind them as they inch closer and closer to Qatar 2022.

"We had a good chat about that with the players," Herdman said prior to jumping on the team charter ahead of Wednesday's game in San Salvador. "We feel that the country is really coming with us. And it's exciting."

The Canada coach cited special moments with the home crowd after wins over the U.S., Panama and Mexico in Hamilton, Toronto and Edmonton, respectively.

"Just moments you have to live. You have to soak it all in," he said. "And then the next day you get back to work.

"I've got some really top-level leaders in this team that have lived big experiences, so they know what comes with the territory. They know that we've got to tune out that noise at the right time and get back to being humble, feet on the ground. And knowing that if we don't take three points here, Panama win, Mexico, U.S.A. win, you're back in the fight again. You're back into the scrap of making sure you're in a position to not finish in fourth place.

"So it's massive game. And these players are well aware."

Canada (6-0-4, 22 points) tops the eight-team standings in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying, with a four-point bulge over Mexico and the U.S. (both 5-2-3, 18 points). Panama (5-3-2, 17 points) stands fourth, four points above Costa Rica (3-3-4, 13 points).

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