Canadian men's 36-year World Cup drought should officially end this week

The Canadian men's team is almost there. 

Barring an unprecedented collapse in qualifying, Canada's 36-year World Cup drought will end this week when coach John Herdman's side punches its ticket for this year's tournament in Qatar, Nov. 21-Dec. 18.

With three games remaining, Canada tops the table in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying with a 7-0-4 record, and enjoys an eight-point advantage over fourth-place Panama. The United States and Mexico are tied for second place, two points behind Canada. Costa Rica is fifth, trailing Panama by a single point. The top three in the eight-team group automatically qualify for Qatar. 

Canada's remaining schedule:

A win against Costa Rica would clinch a World Cup berth for Canada and send it back to the tournament for the first time since 1986 in Mexico, Canada's only previous World Cup appearance. Even if Canada doesn't win in Costa Rica, it could still clinch on Thursday if other results go its way, most notably a Panama loss.

As it stands, it would be harder for the undefeated Canadians to fail to qualify, so it appears inevitable they are going to book their spot at the World Cup. It's just a matter of when it will happen during this international window. 

The historic sense of the occasion is not lost on the Canadian players.

"We're aware of how close we are. It's exciting," midfielder Jonathan Osorio said.

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Still, there is an overwhelming sense inside the Canadian camp that the team can't allow itself to get swept up in the excitement, or take its eye off the ball for a single second. They need to show the same singular focus in dispatching the region's top nations (including wins over higher-ranked Mexico and the U.S.) to get to this