Soccer fans, get ready to celebrate. Canada could clinch a World Cup berth at home Sunday

Jim Crawford says he remembers how surreal it was to be at the 1986 FIFA World Cup  — the last time Canada's men's national team made an appearance in soccer's biggest show.

Crawford travelled to Mexico that year to watch the team, which lost all its group stage games and didn't even score a goal. But the overmatched Canadians played hard and he appreciated the effort.

"It was just amazing to be at the stadiums, watching our boys battle with the best of the world and do a great job," said the Toronto resident and member of the Voyageurs national soccer fan club. 

After 36 long years of failure and disappointment, Canada's men's team is finally on the verge of taking on the best again. Although the Canadians lost to Costa Rica Thursday in their 18th qualifying match for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Crawford and other soccer fans are eagerly anticipating their game against Jamaica at Toronto's BMO Field Sunday.

A win or a tie there against one of the weakest teams in the draw will punch Canada's ticket to the big tournament.

"It's almost like serendipity, or the stars aligned, that we're going to clinch the qualifying at home," said Crawford, who says he used to play and coach in the North Toronto Soccer League.

He's watched over the decades as Canadian men's national teams have underachieved and faltered in World Cup qualifying. But this time around, Canada has climbed into first place in the qualification round for the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).

"We've had our ups and downs, but we're definitely on a high today," Crawford said.

Bars across the country, and particularly in the Greater Toronto Area, are preparing for huge crowds of soccer fans Sunday evening.