Calgary soccer fans pack bar to cheer on Canadian men to no avail

Soccer fans in Calgary showed up in full gear to cheer for the national men's team Thursday night, but ended up going home disappointed.

The Ship and Anchor was packed with Canadian soccer fans cheering on the team as they played Costa Rica in a packed stadium in San Jose.

If Canada won or tied, they would have qualified for the World Cup in Qatar which starts this December.

It would be the Canadian men's first World Cup appearance since 1986.

However, after going down to 10 men because of a red card, Canada fell behind 1-0.

Canada controlled play for most of the rest of the game, but couldn't notch the equalizer. They had one shot go off the post and another off the crossbar, and ended up losing 1-0.

However, they can still qualify for the World Cup with a tie or a win against Jamaica in Toronto, on Sunday afternoon.

Even though the result was disappointing, Canada fans remain optimistic that they will be watching meaningful games from Qatar later this year.

"It's tough going down to Central America and winning games," said super fan Craig MacTavish. "It's amazing they've won before in El Salvador and Honduras. (But winning in) Costa Rica, going down a man? That's hard. So it's sad they lost the game but you know, (playing) Jamaica, (in) Toronto? Sunday is going to be a party. We're gonna go qualify."

Canada hit the goal post and crossbar in a 1-0 loss to Costa Rica in a game played in San Jose Thursday

Fan Megan McCormick felt the same way.

"It's been a long, long time since we've been in the World Cup," she said, "And I'm really hoping and it does seem like we're gonna be able to get there – so that's super, super exciting."

Fans say it's exciting to see the buzz around Canadian soccer that seems to just continue building.

First there was last year's women's Olympic gold, and now a World Cup quest by the men.

With files from Shaun Frenette