Canada is headed to Las Vegas, in search of the CONCACAF Nations League trophy after a dominant 4-1 victory over Honduras on Tuesday in Toronto.
Cyle Larin scored twice early and Jonathan David and Jonathan Osorio added second-half goals for the 53rd-ranked Canadians, who controlled the match from the get-go. Ismael Kone had a breakout game in the Canadian midfield.
Jorge Benguchi scored a consolation goal for No. 81 Honduras.
“Prior to the game we talked about if you want to be part of CONCACAF’s elite, you have to be in these final moments,” stated Canada coach John Herdman. “You’ve got to get into these big events. It’s the first [time] in our history to get to a Nations League final and I think this group believes they can win it. And why not?
“The step they’ve taken tonight, I think they’ve shown a level of performance that should give us hope and a lot of belief that we can win that Nations League final.”
The CONCACAF Nations League features 41 teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean split into three tiers:
League A (12 teams), B (16) and C (13). The four group winners in League A advance to the final four, scheduled for June 15-18 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
No. 13 Mexico (2-0-2) finished first in Group A, while the 15th-ranked U.S. (3-0-1) topped Group D. No. 61 Panama (3-0-1) won Group B after edging No. 32 Costa Rica (2-2-0) 1-0 in a later start Tuesday.
Points earned by the group winners factor into the semifinal matchups. The U.S., as the highest-ranked team by virtue of goal difference over Panama, will face Mexico, the lowest-ranked, while No. 2 Panama takes on No. 3 Canada in the semifinals at Allegiant Stadium.
The Canadian men are 4-2-6 all-time versus Panama, which won 1-0 the last time the two teams met in March 2022 in Panama City in Canada’s final World Cup qualifying game. Canada had already booked its ticket to Qatar by then.
The U.S. and Mexico met in the final of the tournament’s inaugural edition in June 2021 with the Americans winning 3-2 after extra time in Denver, thanks to a Christian Pulisic penalty in the 114th minute.
Honduras was third and Costa Rica fourth.
Canada missed out on the final four in the inaugural tournament, finishing runner-up to the U.S. in its group on goal difference.
