Mediapro Canada Gets Set for USA-Canada in FIFA World Cup Qualifying on OneSoccer

OneSoccer, Canada’s dedicated soccer channel, is gearing up to cover the upcoming window of the Concacaf Final Round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers, comprising Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team’s three critical qualifiers against Honduras, the USA and El Salvador.

The slate of three games begins this week with live coverage of the Canadian men’s away qualifier in Honduras on January 27th (8pm ET/5pm PT), followed by what is being billed as one of the biggest men’s soccer games ever to be played on Canadian soil – the home qualifier against the USA at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field on January 30th (3pm ET/12pm PT). The final match in this fourth FIFA qualifying window will see Canada return to Central America to take on El Salvador on February 2nd at 9pm ET/6pm PT

All three Canada games, as well as the other nine qualifiers in this round, will be aired on OneSoccer, which is available as a linear channel on Telus Optik TV (Ch. 980) – one of Canada’s ‘big three’ BDUs/pay-TV platforms – as well as through the fuboTV Canada streaming platform and the OneSoccer app. Live coverage of the Canada v USA game in Hamilton will be produced by MEDIAPRO Broadcast Services Canada using 16 cameras, the company’s 4K/HD mobile unit Odyssey and a crew of some 50 technical and production staff.

Canada sits unbeaten at the top of the Concacaf Final Round of World Cup Qualifying standings with 16 points after eight of the 14 games, ahead of the USA on 15 and Mexico on 14. The top three teams at the end of the qualifying tournament qualify automatically for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar with the fourth-placed team facing a team from Oceania in an intercontinental playoff for a final spot.

The Canadian men became one of the soccer stories of the year in 2021 after beating perennial favourites Mexico in Edmonton in November, with the game drawing a record 3.5m viewers in Canada across all platforms. In the US, the game delivered 2.1m viewers on Spanish-language channel Telemundo Deportes, becoming the network’s most-watched sporting event since the 2019 Copa América final between Brazil and Peru. Canada v Mexico, played in sub-zero temperatures, was also the coldest game played in Mexican soccer history!

Also in 2022, OneSoccer will air live coverage of all 116 games in the Canadian Premier League, which begins its fourth season in April, as well as 12 Canadian Championship matches, both complemented by a range of studio and panel shows. Other premium content includes coverage of the home friendlies of Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team, the reigning Olympic champions, as well as July’s Concacaf W Championship, the tournament which serves as the qualifying route to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

OneSoccer’s full slate of top-notch soccer content in 2022 confirms its position as the Canadian sports channel with the highest percentage of Canadian content at over 80% of all programming. Live match coverage of Canadian soccer will increase from 2022 with coverage of the League1 semi-pro leagues in BC, Ontario and Quebec (PLSQ) – with equal focus on the men’s and women’s leagues in each tournament – and in 2023, when the CPL will expand to at least 10 teams with the addition of new franchises across the country.