Canada, ranked 27th in the world, has been drawn with No. 17 Switzerland, No. 51 Qatar and a yet-to-be determined European team in Group B at next summer's World Cup.
The European team could be No. 12 Italy, which is taking part in a European playoff in March along with No. 32 Wales, No. 69 Northern Ireland and No. 71 Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Italy-Northern Ireland winner will face the Wales-Bosnia victor to see who joins Canada in Group B.
The Canadian men will open play June 12 in Toronto against the European side, the team drawn from Pot 4, before heading west to Vancouver, where they will face Qatar (Pot 3) on June 18 and then Switzerland (Pot 2) on June 24. Both Vancouver games are at B.C. Place Stadium.
The road map for the expanded 48-team tournament unfolded at the draw at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., before a star-studded crowd including Prime Minister Mark Carney, U.S. president Donald Trump and Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum, whose three countries are co-hosting the competition.
In a surprise move, all three leaders took the stage for the draw. But they were only there to draw their teams, which had already been assigned to specific groups.
Canada is hosting 13 of the tournament's 104 games, with seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Keystone, Claudio Thoma
