Canada Eyes a First World Cup Win While Israel Risks Being Overtaken in the All-Time Table

Canada opens its World Cup campaign on Friday night in Toronto against Bosnia in the start of Group 2, after Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 in the tournament opener at the Azteca. As one of three host nations, Canada is expected to begin with a win, but coach Jesse Marsch will be without Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies, who is still injured.

The bigger story is historical. Canada is seeking its first-ever World Cup victory after six defeats, having lost all three group matches in 1986 and all its games at the previous tournament in Qatar. Only El Salvador has a worse all-time World Cup record, with a goal difference of minus 21 compared with Canada’s minus 10, while Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo also sit below Canada in the rankings.

The article notes that in the 2026 tournament there are three other teams, Iraq, Qatar and Panama, that have never earned a World Cup point, each having lost all three of their matches so far. Excluding debutants Curaçao, Cape Verde, Uzbekistan and Jordan, Canada could theoretically become the team with the most losses in World Cup history without ever taking a point. Mexico holds the overall record for consecutive World Cup defeats, with nine straight losses between 1930 and 1958.

That is unlikely to happen, but Canada still hopes to end what the piece describes as a long-running curse. The article then turns to Israel, which is ranked 64th in the all-time World Cup table with two points, earned from a 1-1 draw with Sweden and a 0-0 draw with Italy in 1970. It says there are 11 teams in the current tournament that could overtake Israel, including Egypt, which has drawn twice and lost five times in World Cup play and will try to make history in 2026.