Biello: It’s all about the details in Canada’s 2026 preparations

• Mauro Biello has been Canada’s interim coach since John Herdman stepped down last year

• The co-hosts are aiming to bounce back after a tough 2023

• Biello spoke about the team’s upcoming challenges and the dream of taking charge in 2026

In the long history of Canada’s men’s national team, 2022 arguably ranks as the best year to date. Qualification for the FIFA World Cup™ was secured, ending a 36-year wait, and the Concacaf standings topped, with some famous wins enjoyed along the way.

Faced with a tough act to follow, 2023 fell considerably short. Going out in the last eight of the Concacaf Gold Cup was a blow, and worse followed in November when Canada lost at home to Jamaica and missed out on a place in the Concacaf Nations League Finals. Add in the departure of John Herdman, the coach who inspired the team’s run to Qatar 2022, and it all made for a year to forget.

What, then, will 2024 bring? That was the key question facing Mauro Biello, Herdman’s former assistant, who has been in interim charge since the Englishman’s departure.

A former Canada international, Biello will lead the team into a crucial Copa America qualifying play-off against Trinidad and Tobago in March, his team having missed out on automatic progression due to that Nations League defeat. He well knows that, without a FIFA World Cup qualifying competition to battle-harden his team ahead of 2026, participation in these continental showpieces has taken on added importance.

“Having the opportunity to play in the Copa America would give us that rehearsal against tier-one teams,” Biello explained. “When you’re able to play against those teams at those levels, you really get the sense of what that intensity is and what that level is.

“For us, it’d be a really great preparation for 2026, having our players live those types of moments and then growing from them. I think that’s what’s key: to come out of the Copa America by learning and growing. By doing that, we’ll be better off going into the World Cup.

“It’s a little bit different this time to the pathway of the last qualifying campaign, but for us it’s all about refocusing the group on what we want to achieve - and that's getting this team to the next level.”

For Canada, having finally qualified for a second World Cup – and with another guaranteed two years from now – that next level will mean not just competing, but winning. That was something they didn’t manage in 2022, despite some laudable showings, and the lessons learned are uppermost in Biello’s thoughts.

He explained: “I think some of the things that we took away from that is that it’s all about the details and, for us, learning that at those levels taking care of every little detail, whether that’s tactically or in our preparation, is super-important for the success of the team.

“I think there were some good performance in those three games (at Qatar 2022). But we know that we can learn and grow from those, and hopefully we’ll be ready in 2026 to put on a great performance.”

While results haven’t been entirely positive for Canada since Qatar 2022, hope has come in the shape of big moves for several key figures. Biello’s squad now contains players from the likes of Inter Milan, Porto, Celtic, Real Mallorca and, of course, Bayern Munich, all of whom have been sampling elite-level European football.

“Absolutely,” responded the interim coach when asked if Canada should start reaping the rewards. “The more players we have playing at those levels, it’s only normal that will come. They are competing against top-level players - the likes of Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, Tajon Buchanan, Cyle Larin - and playing at the highest level.

“For us, when you have a good core of players operating at those levels, playing in the (UEFA) Champions League, it’s preparing them now for that next level. We’re super-excited that we have a strong core of players now, who have gained some experience in the last World Cup and are now continuing to progress in their careers.”

As for the next step in Biello’s career, that could well hinge on whether the World Cup co-hosts prevail or falter in next month’s crucial Copa America qualifier. What’s certain is that, as a proud Canadian – and with his appetite whetted by Sunday’s schedule reveal – he is desperate to be involved when the team take to the field in Toronto on 12 June 2026.

“You think back to when you’re young, and it was every kid’s dream to one day play in a World Cup,” he said. “Now having this opportunity to maybe walk out on the field [on home soil] with this group, it would be extremely special for myself and everybody involved. To be able to play in front of our friends, our family and just feel the energy and passion that will be ignited because of this tournament, is a super-exciting prospect.”