'I'm only thinking about Qatar.’

John Herdman is the coach of both the Canadian men's and women's national soccer teams. He got his start as a primary school teacher and later as coach at Sunderland's youth academy. In 2006 he moved to New Zealand and took over the national women’s team. The team won back-to-back Olympic bronze medals under his direction. His appointment as the new coach in 2018 was met with some criticism. Canada is going to the World Cup in Qatar.

When he arrived in Canada, he saw a different soccer scene than in New Zealand. The Canadian women's team had just finished in last place at the Women's World Cup in Germany.

The women's team won bronze at the 2012 Olympics. It was a special moment for Canada. Canada was hosting the 2015 Women's World Cup.

There are differences between coaching the men's and women's teams. I was more of a teacher on the women’s side. Some players don't want to be taught as much or need other support.

Alphonso Davies said that every time he talks to the team, he feels motivated. Arguments happened regularly during his first two training camps with the men in 2018. The culture wasn't completely broken, but it was a visibly disconnected team.

The initial reaction to the idea of women's football being more competitive than men's was that it's not true.

Canada is co-hosting the 2026 World Cup. Canada's players are aware they could be the first and last group of men to represent Canada at home. They bought into that and performed well during their qualifying run.

There was a great atmosphere on the team bus when it pulled into Hamilton before the qualifier against the United States. The men's team had to build trust with results before their fans could fill stadiums.

Sir Bobby Robson has influenced his coaching style. Robs grew up in northeast England and one of his first coaching jobs was with the Vancouver Royal Canadians in the late 1960s.

How do you coach yourself? I listen to leadership or self-improvement audiobooks.

In his TEDx Talk, you described life as a series of "oh shit" moments. It's been four years of those moments for you. This journey to Qatar has been one of them.

Canada is going to the World Cup in Qatar. The team is valued at over $230 million. Canada hasn't been to a World cup in 36 years.

Jay, 18, plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps 2. He got called up to play for New Zealand at the OFC Under-19 Championship. His father, Bob, misses New Zealander and would like to coach against him.

After remortgageing the house, he would like to have his wife and kids visit Qatar.

It's rumoured that Canada's coach is being courted by several English teams. He wants to coach club football one day, but he's got a contract through 2026. Right now he is only thinking about Qatar.

Qatar is a key part of pushing soccer's popularity in Canada. Hockey is in their hearts. The team will be remembered for this.