What will it take to get the Canadian men’s soccer team back to the World Cup?

There will be Canada Day celebrations across the country today, but they won't be entirely a joyous experience for Canadian men's soccer fans. While the World Cup's still rolling on and producing plenty of exciting moments, the Canadian team isn't in it, as has been the case for every World Cup apart from the 1986 edition. Some of that may be thanks to the lack of elite Canadian athletes in men's soccer, unlike on the women's side and in manyothersports (and some of the top men's soccer players out there who could play for Canada have chosen other teams), some of it may be thanks to the growing strength of the confederation, and some of it may be thanks to the issues with developing talent through Canada's pro clubs, but there are other factors at play as well. Instead of the problems, though, what about considering the solutions? Here are five things Canada may need to do to make a future World Cup:

1. Develop talent: This may be the most crucial element here, and while "Produce better players" may seem overly simplistic at first, there are absolutely concrete steps that can be taken to boost that. One is creating an emphasis on skill development over merely winning at early ages, focusing on small-sided games and minimizing the importance of results, and Canadian soccer is making great progress there (despite opposition from some). Another is encouraging young, top Canadian athletes to choose soccer as a primary sport and as something to focus on. Stories of Canadian players like David Edgar who are finding success overseas help with that, as do stories of Canadians such as Russell Teibert and Dwayne De Rosario excelling in MLS. Beyond that, the Canadian Soccer Association's long-term strategic plan is hitting most of the right notes, and as Colin Horgan noted on The Guardian's site last week, "that we’re seeing the strategic plan at all seems an accomplishment of sorts" (given that all previous documents along those lines have been internal). While there's still a ways to go, especially with MLS not really encouraging the use of Canadians at the moment, there is progress being made on this critical front.

2. Recruit talent internally: This is another important piece of the puzzle, and it works in conjunction with the first step above. Once top players have been developed, you have to convince them to play for Canada rather than another country. Many have multiple options thanks to FIFA's eligibility rules, which allow players to represent any country where they were born, where they have a biological parent or grandparent born, or where they've lived for at least five years after reaching 18. Convincing players to choose Canada over a country like England (see Owen Hargreaves) or the Netherlands (see Jonathan de Guzman) can be a tough sell, especially given the Canadian team's recent lack of success on the international stage, but there are definitely things that can be done to encourage players to don the maple leaf.

One big one is to start recruiting early. While playing at youth levels doesn't commit a player to a country, getting top talents into your youth program can be crucial, as it allows you to develop them, give them plenty of playing time, and make it clear that the coaching staffs of the youth squads and the full national side are working together and on the same page. Moreover, this makes your program the known and familiar one, and anyone who tries to recruit them later seem like a more risky option. Above all, national coaches need to communicate with their players and make it clear to the talented ones there's a path forward for them with Canada. That didn't happen with keeper Asmir Begovic, who played for Canada at the youth levels before switching to Bosnia and Herzegovina, citing Canadian coaching and association issues as a big part of the reason why he made the change:

Another element that may be necessary is bending to specific requests for top talent. Some will be philosophically against this, of course, figuring that the team concept is more important and that everyone should be treated equally. The reality is that all players aren't equal in sports, though, and the rules tend to be (and often should be) broken for stars. You're not going to promise guaranteed playing time or the ability to skip low-level matches to every plugger who might make the national squad, but that might be the deciding element in the recruitment of an internationally-coveted player like de Guzman. Getting fans onside with special treatment may matter too: de Guzman's older brother Julian said Jonathan would join the Canadian national squad if they advanced to the final round of CONCACAF qualifying in 2012, but that prompted plenty of backlash in Canadian soccer circles.

That proved to be a moot point in this case anyways, as Canada didn't go through and de Guzman chose the Netherlands. To win the de Guzmans and Begovics of the world, though, you may need to sweeten the pot beyond what you'd say to a player who has only a slim chance of making the full national side, and you may need to get your fans onside with this approach. (NCAA football recruiting offers an excellent example here; five-star prospects are treated infinitely differently from two-star ones, and most fans are just fine with that, as you need those kinds of elite talents to win on the biggest stages.) It may be a lot easier to convince a player to take Canada over an established European nation that's a perennial World Cup contender if you can offer guaranteed playing time when the other team can only offer an uphill battle to make the squad. In general, Canada's going to have to work on getting top players to represent the country, and this is one way it might be able to do so. There are other ones too, though. (See also #5.)

3. Recruit talent externally: No matter how good your internal recruiting is, some players will still choose to go elsewhere. This is something that can benefit Canada as well as hurt it, though, and what (German-born coach) Jürgen Klinsmann has done with the U.S. team ahead of this World Cup is instructive. Five of the 20 field players on the U.S. roster hold dual U.S. and German citizenship, and Klinsmann has also picked up players who could have represented Norway, Iceland and Mexico. A lot of those players were overlooked by previous U.S. managers in favour of American-born-and-raised types, and some prominent U.S. soccer voices such as Alexi Lalas and Bruce Arena have criticized Klinsmann for this approach, but it's one that fits the international realities of the modern world. Grabbing the best possible talent you can is an approach that's been embraced by many countries in the Olympics, including Canada, and Canadian soccer has made some strides on this front, but more can be done. It's not that this always works or should be done automatically (for example, Brazilian striker Diego Costa's move to Spain ahead of this World Cup didn't go at all well), but with the right players and in the right circumstances, this can be a huge way to make your team better.

4. Have a long-term plan at the senior level: This is something Klinsmann has also done well, saying before this edition of the World Cup that the U.S. can't win it all and indicating with his team selection (throughout qualification and in the World Cup) that he's building for the future as well as the present, giving some young players experience on the biggest stage. This doesn't mean not trying to win every game; in fact, as #5 will demonstrate, that's important too. It does mean that every game, from friendlies to the CONCACAF Gold Cup to World Cup qualification to the World Cup itself, should be part of a larger plan as well as an event of itself. Young players should be given experience when it's fitting, stars should be kept happy and building team strategy and overall cohesion should be a focus in even the most inconsequential friendly. It's all connected at this level, and with the World Cup happening only once every four years, it's worth thinking not just about the next World Cup, but the next one still, and the one after that.

5. Show some progress: This may seem like the opposite of #4 at first glance, but it isn't really. While every match should have long-term goals in mind, putting forward a strong performance in individual matches can also be critical, especially for a country like Canada so desperately in need of some men's soccer hope. Winning breeds further success, helping convince further players (both internal and external) to join you, and even small steps here could help. Some results are needed to build buzz about Canadian men's soccer, to get media and fans interested again, and to convince top athletes growing up not only that they can find success in soccer, but that they can find success in a Canadian jersey. The ultimate goal here is the World Cup, and we're seeing what an impact the American run there is having on soccer's profile stateside. Canada can't get there just yet, but that's the eventual goal. In the meantime, though, there are some smaller targets out there.

An important element here can be uneven scheduling. The more friendlies the CSA can arrange against higher-ranked teams (not hard, given Canada's current ranking of 110th in the world and 11th in CONCACAF), the better; a thumping from a better team is nothing to be ashamed of (and can even prove valuable experience for the players involved), but an unforeseen draw or win over a better team can provide much more excitement than any result against a fellow minnow. The CSA is making progress on this front, scheduling teams like the Czech Republic (34th in the world) and Panama (31st) recently, and more games like that may help.

Progress doesn't all need to be just about on-pitch results, either. A dazzling goal replayed on SportsCentre helps, as does the recruitment or debut of a promising young player. Showing there's a coherent and cohesive long-term organizational plan also matters, as does improving the internal and external development and recruitment systems. If Canada is to make another World Cup, it's not going to come from an instantaneous change. Rather, the best Canadians can hope for at the moment is tangible little chunks of progress in areas like the ones mentioned above. Hopefully those will trigger further improvements, persuade more people to jump on board and get Canada to a World Cup at some point down the road. Until then, though, Canadian men's soccer fans are never going to be unreservedly celebratory during the World Cup.