Canada meets Venezuela in Copa America quarterfinals

MIAMI – Canada meets Venezuela in the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America quarterfinals on Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Canada and Venezuela will face each other for the first time in an official tournament. The two nations have met twice in friendly encounters, both on Venezuelan soil, with the encounters ending in draws.

The Canadians will make their debut in the knockout stage of a Copa America, which is also their first appearance in the 108-year-old tournament. Canada finished second in Group A with a 1-1-1 record.

After starting the tournament with a 2-nil defeat to defending champions Argentina, Canada responded with a 1-nil win over Peru and a nil-nil draw with Chile. Jonathan David has scored the lone goal for The Reds during the 2024 edition.

Goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau has been one of the standout players in the competition, keeping two clean sheets and 15 saves in three matches.

Alphonso Davies was named to the team of the week for the third matchday of the group stage. The Canada captain had five tackles, three interceptions, and three blocks playing at left-back against Chile.

Venezuela finished a perfect 3-0-0 to take first place in Group B. La Vinotinto has advanced to the quarterfinals for the fifth time in 20 tournament appearances.

Salomon Rondon and Eduard Bello lead the team in scoring with two goals each. Rondon is coming off a successful first season with CF Pachuca, where he led the Mexican club to a sixth Concacaf Champions Cup title and won the Best Player and Top Scorer awards.

Bello was named to the team of the week for his performance in the team’s 3-nil win over Jamaica. Bello also scored the match-winning goal in the team’s 2-1 win against Ecuador to open their campaign.

Canada will look to advance to the semifinals for the first time, while Venezuela is searching for its second trip to the final four. As outlined in the tournament’s regulations, a penalty shoot-out will decide the winner in case of a draw in regular time.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Canada and Venezuela will face each other for the first time in their history in an official tournament. Canada advanced to the quarterfinals of the CONMEBOL Copa America in their debut tournament, matching Mexico in 1993 and Honduras in 2001, both of whom reached the semifinals in those tournaments.

Canada and Venezuela have only met twice in history in international friendly matches:

- June 1, 2007, at José Encarnación Romero Stadium in Maracaibo, Venezuela: 2-2 draw. Venezuela's goals were scored by Alejandro Cichero (22') and Giancarlo Maldonado (24'), while Dwayne de Rosario (5') and Ali Gerba (85') scored for Canada.

- May 29, 2010, at Metropolitano Stadium in Mérida, Venezuela: 1-1 draw. Venezuela's goal was scored by Ángel Chourio (44'), and Gavin McCallum (90+3') scored for Canada.

Historical record between the two teams: 2 games

- Venezuela wins: 0

- Draws: 2

- Canada wins: 0

- Goals scored by Venezuela: 3

- Goals scored by Canada: 3

Venezuela against Concacaf rivals:

The quarterfinal match in the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 will be Venezuela's 107th match against a Concacaf team, with a record of 39 wins, 29 draws, and 38 losses, scoring 145 goals and conceding 140.

Among Concacaf teams faced, Venezuela has defeated Honduras the most times (7), suffered the most losses to Mexico (10), and drawn the most with Panama (7).

Canada against CONMEBOL teams:

For Canada, it will be their 26th match in history against CONMEBOL teams, with 3 wins, 8 draws, and 14 losses, scoring 17 goals and conceding 41.

Canada has defeated Chile, Colombia, and Peru once each, drawn twice each with Brazil, Chile, and Venezuela, and lost three times to Ecuador. They have scored the most goals against Brazil and Ecuador (4 each) and conceded the most goals from them (8 each).

Last result: Canada 0-0 Chile, Copa America 2024, Group Stage.