By Steve Keating
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada qualified for the World Cup finals for just the second time on Sunday, beating Jamaica 4-0 to book their ticket to Qatar and end 36 years of failure and heartache.
After failing to clinch a finals spot with a 1-0 away loss to Costa Rica on Thursday, Canada returned home with renewed purpose and a chance to complete the job in front of a frenzied, red-clad flag-waving soldout crowd of nearly 30,000 at BMO Field.
There would be no blown second opportunity as Cyle Larin and Tajon Buchanan netted in the first half and Junior Hoilett added another after the break with Adrian Mariappa’s own goal rounding off the scoring.
Canada will play at the World Cup for the first time since 1986 in Mexico, where they lost all three games and failed to score a goal.
With just one round of qualifying matches remaining, Canada sit top the CONCACAF standings on 28 points, six clear of regional powerhouses the United States and Mexico, who play later on Sunday, looking to secure their own Qatar places.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Toby Davis)
