World Cup qualifying: Canada's final push and what's happening in Europe

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Barring catastrophe, the Canadian men's soccer team will qualify for its first World Cup in 36 years at some point over the next week.

It could happen as soon as Thursday night, when Canada visits Costa Rica to begin its final three matches of regional qualifying. If not, then probably Sunday, when Canada faces Jamaica in Toronto. The finale is March 30 in Panama, but it shouldn't come down to that. A win in any of these matches will put Canada into this year's World Cup, which kicks off in November in Qatar. A draw or a loss could even do the trick, depending on the results of other countries' contests.

The Canadians are in this cushy position because of a stunning run over their first 11 matches in the final round of qualifying for the CONCACAF region. A team that probably would have been pleased with just laying the groundwork for the 2026 World Cup, which Canada is co-hosting, has instead gone undefeated, winning seven matches and drawing four. Everyone else has lost at least twice.

In soccer, a win is worth three points and a draw is worth one. With three matches left, Canada leads the United States and Mexico by four points, Panama by eight and Costa Rica by nine. The other three teams are out of it. When this round ends next week, the top three teams will get a ticket to the World Cup. The math says Canada will almost certainly be one of them.

More subjectively speaking, there's nothing phony about the Canadians' dominance to this point. They beat both of the region's traditional powers, Mexico and the United States, at home and battled them to draws on the road. That