Canada to face U.S. in January in Hamilton

Hot ticket, no doubt. Cold day, probably.

Canada vs. the United States of America. In the heart of winter. Outside. Not a skate in sight. In Hamilton.

Canada Soccer formally announced Thursday that Canada’s next game in its bid to reach the 2022 men’s World Cup will be played at Tim Hortons Field on Sunday, Jan. 30 against Team USA.

This is huge. For the local soccer community, for Tim Hortons Field and for the city of Hamilton. Canada’s last game, earlier this month, had 3.5 million viewers on various broadcast platforms.

It’s Canada’s only home date in the next three-game “window” of CONCACAF region Cup qualifiers, sandwiched between a game three days earlier in Honduras and one

three days afterward in El Salvador.

News that Hamilton would host the game had leaked out Wednesday when several U.S. publications reported that the American team scheduled home games in Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 27, against El Salvador and in St. Paul, Minn., on Feb. 2 against Honduras, mainly because they were going to Hamilton to play Canada in between those two games and wanted to keep the travel distance short.

The top three teams in the eight-country qualifying field of CONCACAF — the region comprising North and Central America and the Caribbean — advance directly to the World Cup in Qatar next December, and the fourth-place team can still qualify with a one-game intercontinental playoff.

After the first eight games, Canada, the only team without a loss, leads with 16 points, just one more than the U.S. and two more than both Mexico and Panama. The winner Jan. 30 earns a big leg up on qualifying for Qatar.

Vancouver’s indoor BC Place had been considered the front-runner for the game because it can hold twice as many fans as Tim Hortons Field’s official 23,218 capacity. But it is an extra three time zones, and 4,000 km, from Team Canada’s two games in Central America.

Many Canadian players will have already travelled from Europe to train in Honduras, and travel and the negative impact on players’ physical recovery time would put Canada at a serious competitive disadvantage.

Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, which drew a total of 93,000 fans for two raucous Canadian victories there, presents similar travel issues, as well as it likely being too cold to play outside in January.

That leaves only Southern Ontario. BMO Field in Toronto drew 26,662 for a Canadian win in mid-October. It has natural grass, preferred for big-time soccer, but the potential for it being unplayable in horrible weather is higher than the surface at Tim Hortons Field, a high-level artificial turf that can accommodate even harsh wintry conditions.

So, the game will be at Tim Hortons Field primarily because it’s Canada’s best fit for competitive and travel reasons.

But, also in the mix is the stadium’s increasing reputation as an international soccer host. Forge FC has played six CONCACAF League games there, and national and international soccer officials have been impressed with the facilities and its operation.

The press box is enormous; the private suites are lucrative; there are numerous locker rooms and other necessary inside spaces; the high-powered lighting and dark green turf provide excellent con- trast for following a soccer ball on TV.

It’s the right place for the right time of year.

The game will be at Tim Hortons Field primarily because it’s Canada’s best fit for competitive and travel reasons