Canada Soccer announces Panama as opponent on Sunday

Canada Soccer announced Tuesday that the Men’s National Team will host Panama on Sunday at BC Place in Vancouver as part of their preparations for 2022 FIFA World Cup.

It is the first of three matches in the June FIFA window ahead of a pair of 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League A matches for both nations, with Canada hosting Curaçao on June 9 before travelling to Honduras while Panama hosts both Costa Rica and Martinique.

Canada Soccer gave way to mounting criticism last week, cancelling a planned friendly against Iran that sparked a firestorm with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, Conservative MPs and B'nai Brith Canada among those decrying the game.

At issue was whether Canada should host Iran given the Canadians who died on Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 when it was shot down on Jan. 8, 2020, minutes after taking off from Tehran, by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. The Canadian government says 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents were among the 176 people killed.

More to follow.