Canadian men to face No. 14 Colombia in October friendly
Canada will face No. 14 Colombia in a men's soccer friendly during the October FIFA international window.
The game is scheduled for Oct. 14 at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, N.J., the home of the New York Red Bulls.
'We look forward to facing more South American competition following our experience at the 2024 Copa America,' Canada coach Jesse Marsch said in a statement. 'Colombia is the type of high-level opponent that we want to be competing against as we continue our preparations for the upcoming World Cup.'
The 30th-ranked Canadian men, who finished fourth at last summer's Copa America, have played Colombia three times before.
Canada defeated the South Americans 2-0 in the final of the 2000 Gold Cup at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and lost in two friendlies: 1-0 in October 2014 at the same New Jersey venue and 3-0 in March 1988 in Armenia, Colombia.
Colombia was runner-up to top-ranked Argentina at last year's Copa America, losing 1-0 after extra time. Colombia captain James Rodriguez, who plays for Mexico's Leon, earned the Best Player Award and was named to the tournament all-star team along with Colombian defender Davinson Sanchez (Galatasary, Turkey).
Fullback/wingback Alistair Johnston (Celtic, Scotland) was the lone Canadian on the Copa all-star squad.
The Canadian men will play a second game in the October window in Montreal against a yet-to-be-announced opponent, Canada Soccer said.
The Colombia fixture adds to a Canadian calendar that includes games against No. 45 Romania on Sept. 5 in Bucharest and No. 29 Wales on Sept. 9 in Swansea.
Canada is currently at the CONCACAF Gold Cup where it faces No. 106 Guatemala in quarterfinal action Sunday in Minneapolis.
The Canadians went 2-1-0 in the Gold Cup group stage, defeating No. 75 Honduras 6-0 and No. 81 El Salvador 2-0, and drawing 1-1 with No. 90 Curaçao.
With two matchdays remaining in South American World Cup qualifying, Colombia stands sixth at 5-4-7, four points ahead of No. 47 Venezuela and five ahead of No. 80 Bolivia in the 10-team table. The Colombians, who drew Argentina 1-1 in Buenos Aires in their last qualifying outing, are scheduled to host Bolivia and visit Venezuela in the September window.
The top six South American teams automatically qualify for the expanded 48-team World Cup. The seventh-place side has a chance to join them via an inter-confederation playoff.
Colombia winger Luis Diaz, who plays his club football for England's Liverpool, leads South American qualifying in scoring with seven goals.
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