VANCOUVER: Canada will look to celebrate their World Cup run when they return home for two friendlies against Chile and Peru later this year, in what head coach Jesse Marsch hopes will be a “hero’s welcome”.

Canada will host Chile in Toronto on September 26 before travelling to Montreal to face Peru on October 3, the countries’ football federations announced on Wednesday.

The friendlies mark Canada’s homecoming after a historic showing at the World Cup which saw them win their first game at the men’s tournament, a 6-0 romp against Qatar, and advance to the knockout stage for the first time.

“The momentum we’ve created for this sport in the country over the past few months has been incredible,” Marsch said in a statement.

“We couldn’t have done it without our fans, and these matches are a chance to say thank you and continue to build on what we achieved at the World Cup. We hope to see Canadians celebrate this team with a hero’s welcome and show up in numbers this fall.”

Canada drew 1-1 with Bosnia in their opening match of the expanded tournament, earning their first points at a men’s World Cup.

Their dominant 6-0 victory over Qatar was followed by a 2-1 loss to Switzerland, giving them a second-place finish in Group ‘B’ to secure a knockout-round berth for the first time.

The Canadians earned a late 1-0 victory over South Africa in the round-of-32 before losing 3-0 to Morocco in the round-of-16.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2026