At Copa America, Canada’s predictable defeat comes with the promise of something bigger

When trying to capture the scale of what Canada was up against at the Copa America on Tuesday evening, soccer comparisons don’t cut it.

Facing an Argentina team featuring Lionel Messi in the semi-finals of that country’s pet tournament was more than a mismatch. It was an invitation to history. Canada was attempting to play the role of the Greeks or the English. Sadly, this wasn’t Thermopylae or Agincourt.

Canada lost 2-0, just like every single person who is not Canadian, or working for a Canadian sports TV network, thought it would.

But for a few minutes there, it put a scare up the best side in the world. It didn’t roll back its lines and try to roadblock the path to its goal. It bashed out the anthem and then it came out into the middle of the park looking for a fight.

“Argentina might have to be the best game of our lives, and it still might not be enough,” Canadian head coach Jesse Marsch said in the lead-up. He got the second part right.

Canada got this far by surprising the likes of Peru and Venezuela. Argentina – a team that had a lot more to lose – was not going to be surprised by anyone.

Canada will feature once more in the third-place match on Saturday. Traditionally, neither team that plays in that game cares about it. The better the team, the less it cares. But Canada should.

This will be its last chance to deepen an impression it has begun to make on the world over the past two weeks. That, although this country is not yet a power in men’s soccer, it could be. Once that match is done, the world will have to wait until World Cup 2026 starts to see how that worked out.

Throughout this tournament, Canada has been able to unsettle opponents with unpredictable flashes of ability. That seemed to be the game plan on Tuesday – keep ’em guessing.

Despite the heat in New Jersey – or maybe because of it – both teams came out ready to run in the early going. Several darting moves pushed Canadian forwards behind the Argentinian lines, causing confusion. A shot by Jacob Shaffelburg – the great Canadian revelation of this tournament – skimmed a few feet wide of an Argentinian post.

But each time it found itself with a little space, Canada lacked that touch of class necessary to complete the move. There always seemed to be one Canadian missing.

Argentina wasn’t panicked, but it seemed far from relaxed.

This Copa has been like all Copas – more of a wrestling match than a ballet recital. Canada was trying to coax Argentina out into the open. It was a plucky idea.

It remained plucky right up until Julián Álvarez breezed past Canada’s Moïse Bombito like a man running a not-particularly-difficult obstacle course. That breakaway goal put Argentina up 1-0 in the 22nd minute.

Canada was left chasing the game, which meant the game was over.

The Argentinians began to toy with the Canadians, tapping the ball around in a transparent effort to find Mr. Messi a goal (he had yet to score in the tournament).

But just as the first half ended, a chance. Jonathan David slipped through a blue-and-white crowd, found himself alone with the ball and tried his luck from a tight angle. The goalkeeper was the only Argentinian who saw him coming.

For the length of the break, you could convince yourself that it still might be possible. A couple of more chances like that and who knows?

Six minutes after the restart, Mr. Messi found his goal – a cheeky redirection of a shot that was probably headed in anyway.

That the guy who is probably the greatest player of all time was standing directly in front of the Canadian net with no one in red anywhere near him gives you a sense of how things were shaking out.

The capper on a disappointing evening came when captain Alphonso Davies fell to the ground at midfield and signalled to be taken off. There were still 20 minutes left. Only Canada seemed interested in playing them. Not that it made a difference. Two gilt-edged Canadian chances at the very end were wasted.

So what sort of performance was it for Canada? A regression to the mean. It was up for it, but it lacked the full 90 minutes of focus that is required at this level against this sort of competition. Hopefully, someone was taking notes.

None of that negates what Canada has managed at the Copa. Given this one opportunity to redefine itself while everyone in the world was watching, it took it.

Canada is still a comer, but it is now a comer others will fear. No team that matters in world soccer will see it as what it has been for going on 40 years – an easy mark.

As big as this moment has become, it’s still the set-up for something bigger. Canada’s hosting duties at the next World Cup begin in just under two years’ time.

World Cups follow the same pattern – everybody loves the idea of putting on the big party until they realize how much it’s going to cost. Canada is in that sticker-shock phase now.

If the national team had stumbled here, the moaning would have become keening, and be on its way to general rage. Instead, the bandwagon has just started a waiting list.

“I’m not worried about the grassroots. I’m not worried about the fans,” FIFA’s Canadian vice-president Victor Montagliani told TSN before Tuesday’s match. “It’s more about engaging the country in what the next two years could be.”

Mission accomplished on that score. The next two years will be full of hope and possibilities, some of which might even be realistic.

Now one wonders: How many more missions can this suddenly fascinating Canadian men’s team take care of before the impossible one starts?