What Canada's Road to the Word Cup Final Might Look Like

Group F

Canada meets with Morocco, Croatia and Belgium in Group F. If it is to progress out of that group, it likely does so in second with Belgium favored to finish first. Canada is 12.00 to win the group and just 3.6 to qualify.

Although Germany finished at the bottom of its group in the last World Cup, it would still be a shock for Belgium or Croatia not to finish first here. So, for the sake of this realistic approach to Canada’s potential World Cup final route, we’re predicting they finish second. 

Round of 16

Based on the idea Canada is not likely to win its group against Belgium, if the Maple Leafs do finish as runners-up, they will meet with the winner of Group E. There are two main teams to look out for there: Germany and Spain.

Costa Rica and Japan make up the numbers in Group E, but it would be a great surprise if it didn’t come down to the winner of the match between Spain and Germany in the second game to determine the group winner.

Either way, even if Canada did finish first, it likely still plays one of those two nations, as Japan and Costa Rica are expected to finish third and fourth one way or the other.

Quarterfinals

After getting past one of the four teams from Group E, up next for Canada would be the winner of match 54. This is the winner of Group G and the runners-up of the Group H clash.

Group H is a tough one to call, but given how Uruguay’s team is greatly inferior to Portugal’s these days, it's likely it will be playing against the winner of Group G, Brazil. Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon do make up a very competitive group for the second spot, but it would be incredible if the favorites to win the World Cup didn't finish top of that group.

Brazil taking on Uruguay would be a tough game to call, but Brazil likely wins it and meets with Canada in the quarterfinals. The chances of a victory are slim, but let's keep the hopes going for now.

For Canada to make it to the quarterfinals, it's 11.00.

Semifinals

If Canada fans are still able to dream this far in what would be a record-breaking achievement with the national team sitting 42nd in the FIFA World Rankings, they would see their team play the winner of match 57. 

The winners of Group A take on the runners-up of Group B and the winners of Group C take on the runners-up of Group D, before the winners of those two games meet in the quarterfinals. This is likely to be the Netherlands from one side and Argentina from the other.

In a crazy world, this is where Canada can meet the United States men’s national team. However, the odds would suggest a meeting between Lionel Messi’s Argentina and the Netherlands instead, where we would back Argentina to win.

So, should Canada finish second in its group and want to achieve a place in the final, it would likely have to take on either Spain or Germany, Brazil and Argentina beforehand. Those countries have a combined 12 World Cup trophies — that’s nine more than Canada has had World Cup matches.

To make it this far, Canada is 43.00.

Final

Could it really happen? If so, Canada would be on a mission to upset the odds of 181.00. Determining who plays Canada in the final would be to pick any team from the other side of the draw. 

Simply put, the round of 16 in that side likely sees Canada's group rivals Belgium meets Spain or Germany, Portugal meets with Switzerland, France plays Poland or Mexico, and England plays Senegal.

England then likely meets with France, and Belgium likely clashes with Spain or Germany in the quarterfinals. England against France is incredibly tough to call, as would be the other game. 

We’d expect France and Spain to make it to the semifinals, however, where the defending champions France should be the favorite. 

Predicting that side of the draw is near impossible, as we need to wait to see how teams look in the group stages. But, Canada fans can expect to meet with one of the favorites to win the whole thing in the final and register arguably soccer’s greatest ever triumph in the process.

Fancy Canada making it to the World Cup final? Well, $10 will get you $650 with FanDuel.