A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2022) |
| Battle of the "Iceteca" | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Date | November 16, 2021 | ||||||
| Venue | Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta | ||||||
| Referee | Mario Escobar (Guatemala) | ||||||
| Attendance | 44,212 | ||||||
| Weather | Snow | ||||||
The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying match between Canada and Mexico was an association football match contested by the Canadian and Mexican men's national soccer teams during the third round of CONCACAF's 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament. Canada's victory over Mexico ended Mexico's eleven match unbeaten streak against Canada dating back to August 15, 2000, and put Canada in first place of the qualifying group.[1][2] The temperature at kickoff was recorded as −9° Celsius, making it the coldest match ever played by the Mexico national team.[3]
Pre-match
Venue selection
Canada was scheduled to be the home team for the seventh and eighth fixtures of the qualifying group, and the Canadian Soccer Association chose to host their matches in Edmonton, Alberta, a city renowned for very cold Prairie winters. This strategy was often used by both Canada and the United States to create a disadvantage for the Mexican team, as those players would not be used to playing under such frigid conditions.[4][5] These cold conditions caused Canadian fans and eventually Canada Soccer to nickname Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton as the "Iceteca" or "Estadio Iceteca" which was a play on words of the Estadio Azteca, Mexico's home stadium.[6][1] Several fans would later refer to the match as the Battle of the "Iceteca".
Background
Canada and Mexico had faced each other twice before in 2021. Mexico was able to beat Canada 2–1 in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-finals, defeating them with a winning goal in the 90+9th minute of the match scored by Héctor Herrera.[7] Mexico had also hosted Canada earlier in October for a World Cup qualifying match which ended in a 1–1 draw at the Estadio Azteca. Mexico were in second place of the group, tied with first place U.S. with fourteen points, while Canada trailed by one point in third place. Both teams had the opportunity to rise to the top of the group if they could come away with a win.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States
|
7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 14 | Qualification for 2022 FIFA World Cup |
| 2 |  Mexico
|
7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 14 | |
| 3 |  Canada
|
7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 13 | |
| 4 |  Panama
|
7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 11 | Advance to inter-confederation play-offs |
| 5 |  Costa Rica
|
7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 6 | |
| 6 |  Jamaica
|
7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 6 | |
| 7 |  El Salvador
|
7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 6 | |
| 8 |  Honduras
|
7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 3 |
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Match
Summary
First half
The first half quickly became a hostile affair, with both sides carrying over the bitterness from the recent fixtures. A particularly hard challenge in the first couple minutes of play left Mexican forward Hirving Lozano down for several minutes as the foul count continued to grow. As tensions rose, both managers were cautioned after half an hour for complaints towards the referees and each other.[8] Canada were able to find the opening goal in first-half stoppage time after Cyle Larin was able to tap in a rebound after goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa mistakenly fumbled the ball from a long shot by Alistair Johnston.[9]
Second half
Seven minutes into the second half, Canada would double their lead when Mexico failed to defend a Stephen Eustáquio free kick which landed in the goal area for Larin to tap in. During the goal celebration, Canadian defender Sam Adekugbe made headlines after celebrating in true Canadian fashion by jumping into a snow bank which had developed near the corner of the pitch. This goal was Larin's twenty-second goal for the Canada men's national team, and equaled the team's top scoring record held by Dwayne De Rosario.[10] Both sides continued to get stuck in and frustrations started to boil over near the end as Mexico desperately attempted to find equalizing goals. Mexico would eventually find the net in the ninetieth minute of play, when Hector Herrera was able to head in a cross from the right and half the deficit. This was quickly followed by a skirmish in front of goal as Mexican players attempted to swipe the ball from goalkeeper Milan Borjan, whom had immediately pounced on the ball to delay the restart as the match entered stoppage time. With increased motivation to equalize, Mexico unleashed several promising attacks throughout additional time, most notably in the third additional minute when the Canadian defence failed to clear away a cross and gave away a shot from two yards out. However, Borjan was able to make a goal line save, prompting several protests from Mexican players who believed the ball was over the line.[11] Canada attempted to kill the last couple seconds of the game by holding the ball in the corner, causing an angered Néstor Araujo to recklessly shoulder charge Lucas Cavallini from behind. The referee issued a yellow card for the challenge before ending the match.
Details
| Canada | 2–1 | Mexico |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF) |
|
       Canada
|
     Mexico
|
|
Assistant referees:
|
Statistics
| Canada | Mexico | |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 2 | 1 |
| Shots | 8 | 12 |
| Shots on target | 4 | 6 |
| Possession | 41% | 59% |
| Fouls | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Canada_v_Mexico_(2022_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification)