On Thursday, the Canadian men’s national team step onto the world stage once again. This time, it is as close to the main stage as it gets.

The opening match of the 2024 Copa América tournament, in front of over 70,000 fans in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, against the defending World Cup champions and tournament favourites Argentina, and the best player in the world, Lionel Messi. It is a special moment for this group.

The Canadian national team has been on big stages before, even if it has been few and far between over the years. They’ve been there in Qatar, in Mexico in 1986, and at the 2001 Confederations Cup in South Korea and Japan.

They have played France, Belgium, Brazil, and now Argentina. But as they kick off on Thursday, the one major moment has eluded them: a first victory in a major international competition.

They finally got their first World Cup goal in Qatar, but through nine consecutive matches in those aforementioned tournaments, they managed just one draw. It was an impressive result, a 0-0 draw against Brazil at the 2001 Confederations Cup, but their other eight outings have ended in defeat.

For any expectations of this group at this year’s competition, that should be the main goal, to get that critical first victory. It would be a critical moment of belief for this young group, just two years before they welcome the world to Canada for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Internally, the Canada squad should absolutely feel they can, and should set their target at getting out of this group — heck, even winning the whole thing. No team should enter a competition believing otherwise. But to set that as the external expectation, when, again, this team is still looking for their first major tournament win, is a touch premature. This isn’t about being cynical or unambitious, it is just realistic.

The talk of Canada’s opponents, particularly Chile and Peru, as teams they should beat feels all too similar to some naïve pre-World Cup discourse, when ‘aging’ Croatia and ‘who?’ Morocco turned out to be anything but. In reality, in major tournaments like this, you rarely don’t get a team at their very best.

Chile and Peru are both significantly more battle-hardened than this Canadian team, both lately and historically. They have been playing top opposition in crucial World Cup qualifying matches, even if it hasn’t gone particularly well for either so far. The only win for Chile and Peru through each team’s six World Cup matches was Chile beating Peru.

Chile, however, have strong history in this tournament, including beating Argentina in the final to win both the 2015 and the 2016 Centenario tournament in the United States. Peru, meanwhile, were runners-up to Brazil in the 2019 tournament and finished fourth in 2021.

So a win against either of them, even if it certainly wouldn’t carry the same public caché as a result against Argentina, would still be a huge and game-changing victory for the program.

The national team have unquestionably had some big results before. At the 2000 Gold Cup, for example, Canada beat South American opposition Colombia in the final, as well as Mexico in the knockout round to win that tournament. But that was an entirely different generation, and with all due respect, the significance and history of that tournament pales in comparison to Copa América.

A win at a Copa América is as close as Canada can possibly come to a win at a World Cup. To be able to do it two years before the 2026 World Cup, where there will and should be the expectation that they get out of their group given the experience and advantages Canada will have at that point, is critical.

It starts with one, and if Canada can get it at this Copa América, everything else should be looked at as a welcome bonus. But it will be a significant moment in the nation’s footballing history, which will give the team the confidence to go out and make even more notable history in 2026 and beyond.