#4 Canada in 2001
Canada had qualified for the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup through a qualification play-off group but stunned everybody by winning the tournament – defeating Colombia 2-0 in the final. This victory was Canada’s ticket to the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup that was held in Japan and South Korea, thus making it the first tournament where the hosts of the following World Cup would be hosting the competition.
Canada were heavy underdogs at the tournament and were in a group alongside Brazil, Japan, and Cameroon. The North Americas began their tournament with a 0-3 defeat against Japan which was followed by a 0-0 draw against a second-string Brazilian side.
Thus, they still had some hope of qualifying for the semi-finals if they beat Cameroon (who had already been eliminated) by a good margin in their final group game and hope that Japan defeated Brazil.
However, it was not to be as Canada were beaten 0-2 by Cameroon while Japan drew 0-0 against Brazil.
