It has been 24 years since Canada, against all odds and with a bit of luck, won the 2000 Gold Cup by defeating Colombia 2-0 in the final. That was the last time the Canadian national team, which will face Peru this Tuesday in the Copa América, managed to win a match against a South American team.

The legendary Jason de Vos and Carlo Corazzin scored in that final, which Canada reached after defeating Trinidad and Tobago (1-0) in the semifinals, a powerful Mexico in the quarterfinals (2-1) with a comeback and golden goal included, and barely making it through a group with Costa Rica and South Korea.

In fact, it was solely thanks to luck that Canada advanced to the knockout stages and later reached the final, played at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.

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In that first phase, Costa Rica, Canada, and South Korea had tied all their group matches, but while the Ticos qualified due to the number of goals scored, the tie between Canadians and South Koreans was total.

Concacaf's way of breaking the tie was to flip a coin in the presence of both coaches. Canada won.

Beyond the goal scorers, standout players for the team led by German coach Holger Osieck included fullback Paul Stalteri and goalkeeper Craig Forrest, who at that time played in the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen and the Premier League with West Ham United, respectively.

Colombia, under the guidance of Luis Augusto García, started with Diego Gómez in goal, Andrés Mosquera, Roberto Carlos Cortés, Gonzalo Martínez, and Arley Dinas in defense, Martín Zapata, John Wilmar Pérez, and Bonner Mosquera in midfield, and Mayer Candelo and Faustino Asprilla up front.

The Colombian team was one of two South American teams - along with Peru - invited by Concacaf to that edition of the tournament, which was held in the United States.

Since that final on February 27, 2000, in which they defeated Colombia, Canada has not won another match against a South American team, drawing or losing the eleven matches they have played. The most recent was last Thursday, a 2-0 loss to Argentina in the opening match of the 2024 Copa América in Atlanta.

Between the match against Colombia and the one against Argentina, only two matches were official: a 0-0 draw against Brazil in the group stage of the 2001 Confederations Cup and a 0-2 defeat to Ecuador, also in the group stage, but in the 2002 Gold Cup.

The next eight matches against Conmebol teams were friendlies, with a record of three draws and five losses.

In the coming days, Jesse Marsch's men, participating for the first time in the Copa América, will have two more opportunities to break this unfortunate streak of more than 24 years. The first will be on Tuesday against Peru and the second next Saturday, against Chile.