The Canadian men's national team's road to the 2018 World Cup begins on Thursday as they are set to take on Dominica in the second round of CONCACAF qualifying. It will be the first of two games against the Caribbean island nation for the Canucks, with the second leg taking place on Tuesday night at BMO Field.
Canada have reached the World Cup just once, all the way back in 1986, when they finished in last place.
They did not participate in the first five World Cups, from 1930 to 1954. Canada failed to qualify for the 1958, 1970, 1974, 1978, and 1982 World Cups while not participating in qualifying in the run-ups to the 1962 and 1966 World Cups.
Since 1986, Canada's best shot to reach the World Cup came in 1994. That qualifying campaign ended in a playoff with Australia that ended with a penalty kick shootout, which the Canadians lost 4-1 after tying the Aussies 3-3 through 180 minutes.
They have not reached the fourth round of qualifying, or The Hex, since the run-up to the 1998 World Cup.
You can see how far they went in their other qualifying campaigns since 1986 in the table below:
| Canada World Cup Qualifying Campaigns | |
| World Cup Year | Round in which they were knocked out (total rounds) |
| 1990 | Round 2 (3) |
| 1994 | CONCACAF-OFC Playoff |
| 1998 | Round 4 (4) |
| 2002 | Round 3 (4) |
| 2006 | Round 3 (4) |
| 2010 | Round 3 (4) |
| 2014 | Round 3 (4) |
