Trinity Western University men's soccer alum Joel Waterman ('18, Aldergrove, B.C.) has been named to Canada's senior men's team for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.
Waterman's meteoric rise within the Canadian soccer ranks sees him become the first-ever Spartan to be named to Canada's senior men's soccer team. He is also the only player on the World Cup roster to have spent five years playing in U SPORTS.
The star defender was named to the roster just two days after earning his first international cap in a friendly against Bahrain. Waterman started for Canada and played all 90 minutes.
Canada will play Japan in a pre-tournament friendly Nov. 17 (5:40 a.m. (PT) / 8:40 a.m. (ET)) in Dubai, before opening the World Cup in Group F action Nov. 23 against Belguim.
World Cup Schedule – Canada
Nov. 23 – vs. Belguim – 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m.
Nov. 27 – vs. Croatia – 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET
Dec. 1 – Mororcco – 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET
Waterman, who holds the title of being the first Canadian Premier League (CPL) player to make the transition to Major League Soccer (MLS), has been playing for CF Montréal since 2020. Waterman has accumulated 61 appearances since joining the MLS side while tallying three goals in the process.
Waterman, who played his final season with the Spartans in the fall of 2018, captained TWU to a Canada West silver medal and a fourth-place finish at the U SPORTS championship in his senior season. The five-year Spartan, who was a Canada West First Team All-Star in his final year at TWU, is also a former member of Canada Soccer's National Training Centre Program in British Columbia.
This marks Canada's first participation at the men's FIFA World Cup since Mexico 1986. Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ after winning the Concacaf Final Round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, also leading the eight-nation table with 23 goals scored and only seven goals conceded. Across 20 matches from all three rounds of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Canada posted 14 wins and two draws with 54 goals scored, 12 clean sheets, and just eight goals conceded.
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby, as well as women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 31 Canada West team championships. Learn more at gospartans.ca.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four locations in Canada: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Instagram @trinitywestern, Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.