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PARAMARIBO, Suriname — Substitute Junior Hoilett scored in the 83rd minute to lift Canada to a 1-0 win over Suriname in the first leg of their CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal Friday.
Canada dominated play but was unable to take advantage until Jonathan David found Hoilett streaking towards goal and the 34-year-old deflected the ball past Suriname goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen for his 16th Canada goal.
The teams meet again Tuesday at Toronto’s BMO Field.
Canada, ranked 35th in the world, had chances in a chippy first half that saw two yellow cards shown to No. 136 Suriname.
While Jacob Shaffelburg and Ali Ahmed caused problems on either flank, Canada was unable to convert. There were also missed opportunities from set pieces.
Canada outshot Suriname 8-0 (2-0 in shots on target) in the first half, had five corners and 67 per cent possession.
The 18th-ranked U.S. and No. 39 Panama won their opening leg matches Thursday with 1-0 decisions at No. 61 Jamaica and No. 50 Costa Rica, respectively.
No. 16 Mexico played at No. 77 Honduras in a later start Friday.
The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals in March at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Canada-Suriname winner will face either the U.S. or Jamaica in the semis.
The Canadian men fell at this hurdle in last year’s competition, losing to Jamaica on the away goals rule after the two-legged series finished knotted at 4-4.
Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands. As a result, its football has a Dutch flavour.
Suriname has star power in forward Sheraldo Becker, who scored Sunday in Real Sociedad’s 1-0 win over Barcelona in Spain’s La Liga. The Suriname starting 11 also included players from clubs in Cyprus, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Serbia, Sweden and Turkey.
Canada was without captain Alphonso Davies, who did not make the trip as a precautionary measure “due to physical fatigue.” And coach Jesse Marsch, no doubt with an eye to Tuesday’s rematch, had veterans Jonathan Osorio, Kamal Miller, Cyle Larin, Max Crepeau and Hoilett on the bench to start.
The Canadian starting 11 had a combined 299 caps with Alistair Johnston, Richie Laryea, Stephen Eustaquio and David accounting for 209 of them. Johnston celebrated a milestone 50th cap.
Minnesota United’s Dayne St. Clair started in goal, earning his eighth cap. He is still involved in the MLS playoffs while Crepeau, the normal starter, and Portland were eliminated Oct. 23.
There were also starts for CF Montreal centre back Joel Waterman, Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Ahmed and Minnesota forward Tani Oluwaseyi.
The four had 30 caps between them going into the game. Waterman was stepping in for the injured Derek Cornelius.
The Canadians spent the week training in Florida, in part to prepare for Suriname’s heat. The temperature at kickoff on the artificial turf at the intimate Franklin Essed Stadion was 28 C, feeling like 31 C.
Attendance was announced as 4,500.
Canada had more of the ball in the early going against a physical Surname side that kept Jamaican refereeOshane Nation busy and raised Marsch’s blood pressure on the sideline.
Vaessen, who plays his club football in the Netherlands for Groningen, made a fine save in the 16th minute to deny Ahmed after Shaffelburg won the ball. And Oluwaseyi’s shot hit one goalpost, then the other and somehow stayed out in the 33rd minute after he was put behind the Suriname defence by David.
Canada sent on Larin, Osorio, Buchanan, Hoilett and Mathieu Choiniere as the second half wore on. Buchanan was making his return to the national team after breaking his leg in In training at this summer’s Copa America.
Johnston, Waterman, Choiniere and Osorio were yellow-carded in the second half, which saw Suriname venture forward more. The home side finally threatened in the 59th minute when Gleofilo Vlijter’s header off a corner hit the crossbar.
Canada had faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.
Suriname made it this far by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe. The Canadian men, along with the U.S., Mexico and Panama, received a bye into the final eight.
Canada improved to 5-3-5 in 2024 with one of those ties turning into a shootout loss to No. 14 Uruguay and another into a shootout win over No. 44 Venezuela.