Now that we've had a few days for the news about the upcoming expansion of the FIFA World Cup to truly sink in, we ought to consider whether Canada could actually get there.

In case you missed it, the global soccer overlords at FIFA—in their definitely-altruistic-rather-than-cash-fuelled wisdom—decided last week that the 2026 men's World Cup will balloon to 48 teams, up from the current 32.

That, of course, makes it statistically more likely that Canada will break its long World Cup drought within our lifetimes. The team has reached just one senior men's World Cup before (Mexico 1986) and aside from reaching an intercontinental playoff against Australia in the run-up to USA 1994, hasn't really come close again since then.

Canada got bounced from 2018 World Cup qualifying back in September, and has slipped to an all-time low in the (admittedly problematic) FIFA rankings, at No. 120. It's a long way down from the country's peak in the rankings, No. 40, reached back in 1996 (the men's FIFA rankings were first calculated in 1993).

How did it happen? Well, believe it or not, the United States used to be the joke of the region, experiencing a 40-year World Cup drought of its own before reaching Italy 1990. The Americans hosted the next World Cup and have been a regional heavyweight since then.

While the US and Mexico have grappled for top billing in the CONCACAF region, Canada's competitors for the few remaining World Cup qualifying spots—the likes of Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica and, recently, Panama—have moved forward while Canada has, in many ways, stagnated.

When Canada reached the 1986 World Cup, it benefitted from a trio of factors: it didn't have to face Mexico (which automatically qualified as hosts), the US was still trash (as has been mentioned) and its players had the residual benefit of having played a lot—and importantly, played together a lot—in the old North American Soccer League, which folded in 1984.

Even when Canada made a push for USA 1994 eight years later, many members of its roster had competed regularly in a domestic league; in this case, the old Canadian Soccer League, which existed from 1987 to 1992.

But after the death of that league, men's soccer stagnated in Canada. The governing body, the Canadian Soccer Association, was constantly gripped by in-fighting, most community clubs offered only low-level recreational play (with no particular standards to uphold), and there was no visible path for a talented Canadian player to go from his local park to the pro ranks.

Sure, there were always exceptions to the rule, players who succeeded in spite of the system and found their way to success abroad. But with the exception of the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup (where a couple of such outliers, Craig Forrest and Jason deVos, helped Canada win the whole thing), it wasn't enough to equal sustained national-team success.

While that may all make it sound like the team is beyond redemption, the reality is that events of the past decade actually put Canada in a prime position to reach that supersized World Cup in 2026.

The CSA has been steadily implementing its long-term player development plan at community youth clubs, and recently hired deVos as its director of development to oversee what it calls its "Canada Soccer Pathway." Its purpose, put minimally: actually teach kids how to play soccer properly. Wild, I know.

Private academies like Sigma FC in Toronto and TSS Academy in Vancouver have also sprung up to fill the player-development void, while semi-pro leagues like League1 Ontario and the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) are helping bridge the gap between the youth game and pro ranks.

Major League Soccer came to Canada in 2007 when Toronto FC joined, followed by the Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact. Those teams—along with FC Edmonton and the Ottawa Fury in the US second-division ranks—have not only boosted the pro game's profile, they've given the opportunity for countless youngsters to train in pro environments through their academy systems.

And amidst all of that, there's also the impending launch of a new national Canadian professional league, the first of its kind since the demise of the old CSL. How that league will look remains a big question mark, but it will immediately provide opportunities to hundreds of Canadian players (not to mention coaches).

Not only that, but after years of negotiating with the CSA, MLS has finally agreed to loosen its roster rules, allowing some Canadians to count as "domestic" (rather than "international") players on all 22 teams, rather than just the three Canadian ones.

There are already tangible signs of hope. The first two rounds of last Friday's 2017 MLS SuperDraft saw four Canadians selected, including Kwame Awuah (a Sigma FC graduate), Adonijah Reid (a former League1 Ontario player) and Shamit Shome (who came up through his hometown FC Edmonton).

Canada's training-camp roster for a friendly against Bermuda this weekend features a variety of young players, including some—Jordan Hamilton, Marco Bustos and Marco Carducci, all 20—who'll be in their prime when 2026 rolls around.

Star striker Cyle Larin (another Sigma FC grad, who went No. 1 overall in the MLS draft two years ago) also fits into that category, though he's missing this game with a minor injury.

It's hardly meant as a heavyweight clash; rather, it's a chance for the coaching staff to have a look at the sort of young, domestic-based players who'll likely form the core of that hypothetical 2026 World Cup side.

"What we have in 2017 is a great opportunity to do an inventory of where Canada is from a playing point of view," says interim head coach Michael Findlay. "We're not looking for the end result in this [Bermuda] project, we're looking for another couple of steps toward getting the end result."

This is Canada's fourth friendly match under Findlay, who was an assistant under former head coach Benito Floro and took the interim job after Floro departed in September. While the games have been low-profile (none have been on Canadian TV) and far-flung (two were in Morocco, one was in South Korea, plus this one in Bermuda), they are—and this is meant in a good way—better than nothing.

"We didn't want to go dormant (after being eliminated from World Cup qualifying)," said Findlay. "The job's got to be done; the game goes on."

While the world's top national teams can fill out their rosters with superstars, Canada routinely has trouble just fielding 11 players who are getting regular professional playing time. In some cases (the Bermuda camp being no exception), out-of-contract Canadians get called for national-team duty as an audition of sorts, as they pursue their next club contract. The hope is that, before long, this will change.

The suboptimal situation is the natural end product of decades of neglect, where Canada had no real plan for youth development, no clear pathway for players to get a foothold in the professional game and no top-flight domestic league for players to compete in.

The CSA has said it wants the team to play as much as possible in 2017, a departure from the past when the team would vanish for long stretches of time. That's important not just for the sake of doing long-term inventory, but also for helping players earn playing time with their clubs right now.

There are other notable Canadian players to keep tabs on, too—like wunderkind Alphonso Davies, who made his Vancouver Whitecaps debut last year at age 15—who have Canadian fans dreaming of what the future may hold. Of course, it's impossible to know how any athlete's pro career will look nine months from now, never mind nine years; so hanging the albatross of expectation around any of these players' necks is highly unfair.

And sure, Canada could squeak its way into the 2022 World Cup, or get an automatic spot in the 2026 tournament by hosting it. But the process of qualifying for that 2026 tournament would be the first real chance to see whether, and how, all of the ongoing changes in the Canadian soccer landscape have truly paid off.

As it turned out, reaching Mexico 1986 was an anomaly for Les Rouges. But with Canada finally getting its affairs in order at home and the World Cup offering an expanded field, 2026 could be the year that our men's national team finally asserts itself as a consistent player on the world stage.