The Canadian men's soccer team has been voted The Canadian Press team of the year after competing at the World Cup for the first time in 36 years.
The soccer squad received 23 votes in balloting by Canadian media while Canada's Davis Cup team, which won a first-ever world tennis title in November, was runner-up with 19 votes.
Canada, then ranked 41st in the world, was drawn into a tough group for the World Cup in Qatar alongside No. 2 Belgium, No. 12 Croatia and No. 22 Morocco.
While Canada failed to win a match, it was the better team for much of a 1-0 loss to Belgium and Alphonso Davies scored the country's first-ever World Cup goal in a 4-1 loss to Croatia.
The Canadians closed out play in a 2-1 loss to Morocco.
The degree of difficulty in Canada's group was illustrated by the fact that Croatia and Morocco made it to the semifinals.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2022.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
