The year 2020 was… quiet for the Canadian men’s national team.

That’s not to say its players were idle, of course — on the contrary, actually, but more on that later — but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the actual team played just three games (the fewest since 1998), none of which were in a competitive situation.

In January 2020, we were looking ahead to a massive year for the men’s team. The distant memory of centuries a few months ago is foggy, but those were the days of tediously calculating FIFA ranking points, and speculating about which opponents Canada could play in friendlies in order to get themselves into the Hex for World Cup qualifying. Remember that?

Canada were set to play Trinidad and Tobago twice at Westhills Stadium in March, which would’ve been amazing. Plus, the Concacaf Olympic Qualifiers were scheduled near that time as well, which — while not strictly a senior national team competition — could’ve been a formative moment in the future of this team.

World Cup dreams were put on hold this year, though, with the qualification format completely reworked and moved into mid-2021. So, the only action the senior men’s team saw in the past 12 months was a trio of friendlies in Irvine, California last January.

Canada took on Barbados twice (beating them 4-1 both times) and then Iceland, to whom they lost narrowly. That camp was an interesting one; situated as it was outside of official FIFA windows, John Herdman’s squad was composed mostly of MLS contributors and young players not needed by their senior clubs in Europe. A trio of Canadian Premier League players were also invited to that camp, as first-time call-up Tristan Borges (then the CPL’s reigning Player of the Year) joined FC Edmonton’s Amer Didic and Cavalry FC’s Marco Carducci.

Both Didic and Borges ended up winning their first caps, with both playing in the second game against Barbados. Didic, in particular, made quite the impression, earning a starting nod in that match as well as the next one against Iceland. He also became the first CPLer to score for the national team, as the big centre-back managed to get his head on a cross for Canada’s third goal against the Barbadians.

63’ Didic scores from a header by a perfectly placed corner kick from Liam Fraser

?? 3-0 ??#CANMNTpic.twitter.com/enonUGe0m5

— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) January 11, 2020

Only a handful of players from that camp are part of the core starters that will lead Canada into World Cup qualifiers. The likes of Sam Piette, Derek Cornelius, and Jonathan Osorio will be there, of course, and ever since that camp Richie Laryea has made it more and more obvious that he should be the starting right-back of the future.

A few others there will contend for spots — Liam Fraser, Sam Adekugbe, and perhaps even Didic, among others — but the story of the camp was probably the youngsters finally brought into the fold of the senior team. Zorhan Bassong (then of Cercle Brugge, now of the Montreal Impact) and Lille’s Charles-Andreas Brym made positive impressions, as did a number of youngsters in MLS academies.

Still, it’s unfortunate that neither Alphonso Davies nor Jonathan David played for their country in 2020. Nor, for that matter, did Milan Borjan, Scott Arfield, or any of the other regulars who were too busy with European club football for the national team camp last January.

Therein lies the strange irony, though. Although no full-strength Canadian men’s team actually took to the pitch in the last calendar year, it’s hard to deny that 2020 was an extremely positive year for Les Rouges.

Davies, obviously, is the crowning jewel; even putting aside the shower of trophies and personal accolades — as surreal as that sounds — he played 36 times (32 of them as a starter) for arguably the best club team in the world right now at Bayern Munich, making significant contributions in the Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League. Regular playing time anywhere in the world has often been hard to come by for Canadian national team players, never mind at the absolute highest level.

The national team is not one player, though. Davies carries the flag for Canadian soccer in Europe, but plenty of his teammates under Herdman saw their fortunes rise in 2020 as well. David, of course, finally secured his transfer to Lille OSC after a 23-goal 2019-20 season at Gent — he hasn’t quite fully clicked in France yet, but it should come.

Arfield has quickly become indispensable for Rangers in Scotland, currently sitting fourth in the Scottish Premiership in assists (5) with one of the best passing records in the league recently as his side has leapt well in front of the pack. Over in Turkey, Cyle Larin and Atiba Hutchinson have become one of that country’s best one-two punches; Larin has eight goals in 2020 since returning to Besiktas from his loan in Belgium, and Hutchinson has been all over the pitch in every game despite his 37 years of age — perhaps both of them deserve to be a bigger part of the conversation for Herdman?

We could go on and on; Lucas Cavallini’s move to Vancouver Whitecaps, Mark-Anthony Kaye’s continued brilliance at Los Angeles FC, and Dayne St. Clair’s emergence for Minnesota United would all get more attention here if there wasn’t so dang much to talk about. Even Doneil Henry has reinvented himself in South Korea. It’s impossible to mention every player

Long, long gone are the days of “Unattached FC,” or players fighting for meaningful minutes. At the World Cup qualifiers, Canada will be able to field a squad of players in match-ready form, having recently played at elite levels around the world.

So, when 2020 is revisited, we’ll remember it as a good one for the Canadian men’s program. For the actual national team, we saw a handful of talented youngsters brought into squad and given their first opportunities (with more to come in 2021). Following that, the team’s best players pretty much all made leaps forward in their own careers.

In lieu of a real international competition in the past year, it’s hard to ask for more than that.