Reading midfielder Junior Hoilett is aiming to make history in Qatar and help Canada win a World Cup fixture.

The 32-year-old is a regular for his nation, with almost half a century of caps, but will appear at his first World Cup.

Last qualifying in 1986, four years before the former Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff City winger was even born, the Maple Leafs failed to record a goal or a point.

Now drawn in a tough group, with Croatia, Belgium and Morocco in their path, the 2026 co-hosts are looking to ruffle a few feathers.

"I think the pressure is on the other teams in the group to go out there and show they are better than us," the Royals regular told BBC World Service. "But right now we are the underdogs, and we want to show that underdogs can bark.

"We have it in the back of our minds that we didn’t win a game then, or even score a goal so for us, although we have already written history, we want to make more history at this World Cup to show the world Canada is no just a hockey country but it is a football country as well, and show the world our style of football and what we can do on the world stage."

The Canucks get their campaign underway tonight against Belgium, semi-finalists in 2018 and a team tipped to go far this time around.

Kick-off is at 7pm on BBC One.