After enthralling the entire country the past couple of weeks, the Canadian men's national team has but one goal on Wednesday:
Stay at home.
Canada will play their final World Cup group stage match on Wednesday afternoon at Vancouver's BC Place, where they'll take on Switzerland with a genuine chance to top Group B.
In fact, Jesse Marsch's side find themselves in the driver's seat, entering Matchday 3 in first place thanks to a plus-six goal differential established in their battering of Qatar last week. So, a draw against the Swiss would be enough to give them top spot.
For a side that entered the tournament still looking for their first-ever point at a World Cup, Canada have matured as a co-host in front of the world. Now, with an emphatic win under their belts, they have their sights set on a July 2 round of 32 match in Vancouver.
The schedule was designed to provide a path that could benefit Canada, if they were able to take it. The Group B winners play a third-place side at BC Place with seven days' rest; if they win that knockout match (which they'd be favoured to do), they'd play in Vancouver again on July 7.
The path for Group B's runner-up is trickier; that would require a trip to Los Angeles for the round of 32, then Houston.
Canada have, in both of their group stage matches at this World Cup, been visibly buoyed by the crowd behind them in Toronto and Vancouver.
They expect to be on Wednesday again, and if things go to plan, they'll get to play in front of that crowd at least once, if not twice more.
Easier said than done, of course. Switzerland (up to 17th in the FIFA World Rankings) were the favourites to top Group B, and remain a formidable foe. They went undefeated in their qualifying group above Kosovo, Slovenia and Sweden, and beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-1 last week.
Their World Cup campaign did open with a shock 1-1 draw against Qatar, so they and Canada both dropped points against a group opponent the other side beat.
Coached by Murat Yakin since 2021, and led by 33-year-old captain Granit Xhaka, this Swiss team has a lot of experience. They've been to the round of 16 each of the last three World Cups, but haven't been farther than that since 1954; they're motivated to get the most out of a talented core that's approaching its twilight.
Ten of Switzerland's 26 players have more than 50 caps, and eight of their starting 11 against Bosnia were aged 29 or older; this may be the last chance for the generation of Xhaka, Manuel Akanji and Ricardo Rodríguez to make a deep World Cup run.
Switzerland are an outstandingly tricky defensive side, but they could have trouble with the attacking pace of Canada, who will try to win the ball high up the pitch.
Almost everything went right for Canada's attackers against Qatar: Cyle Larin stayed hot, Jonathan David came to life, and the fullbacks were aggressive in the overload.
The only real question for Jesse Marsch to answer will be how he replaces Ismaël Koné in the middle, after Koné's heartbreaking leg injury. It'll likely be Nathan Saliba, who now faces the biggest test of his young career against Xhaka.
Also key for Canada will be avoiding yellow cards. Derek Cornelius, Luc De Fougerolles and Johnston all have one, and would miss the first knockout round if they pick up another. So, look for Marsch to protect them if possible.
The Qatar match was the highest-pressure test in CanMNT's history, and they passed it.
This Switzerland game? Their greatest ever opportunity.
It's been a World Cup party for Canadians this month, and they'd love to keep it going.
