By Vanni Sartini's count, at least eight of his former players will be at this summer's FIFA World Cup.
During his years with the Vancouver Whitecaps, four members of the current Canadian men's national team squad — Derek Cornelius, Richie Laryea, Maxime Crépeau and Ali Ahmed — crossed paths with Sartini. If Ralph Priso gets added to the Canada roster this week, it'll be five.
The Halifax Wanderers head coach's influence isn't just visible in the Canadian team, though; Sartini also had a hand in the World Cup journeys of Sebastian Berhalter (United States), Alessandro Schöpf (Austria), Pedro Vite (Ecuador) and Andrés Cubas (Paraguay). In fact, current Whitecaps teammates Berhalter and Cubas could go toe-to-toe in the opening match of Group D on Friday.
Sartini's role in each player's story has been different, but he's immensely proud to have been even somewhat involved in their journeys.
"I'm really proud of these players," Sartini told CPLsoccer.com. "If they play at the World Cup, it's really beautiful, and hats off to them. I really think it's emblematic, the fact that they come from different backgrounds, they had different soccer upbringings."
Each of his World Cup-bound former players, Sartini explained, had a different path to their current level.
Ahmed, for example, came to the Whitecaps on trial when he was about 20, on the recommendation of, by Sartini's description, "a guy." Berhalter, meanwhile, was on the brink of leaving soccer entirely when Sartini began working with him, and now he's one of the best midfielders in MLS.
Four years ago, only one of Sartini's players was at the 2022 World Cup: Canadian striker Lucas Cavallini. Even then, Sartini felt almost like a proud parent.
"I remember how I was happy for him, but also happy for myself too to be part of helping him in that journey to reach the World Cup stage," he said. "I'm really proud and happy because I know how much these players work. Even the non-Canadians, all very different stories."
Eight years ago, when the World Cup was awarded to Canada, Mexico and the United States, Sartini was working for the U.S. Soccer Federation. He recalls, at the time, that the state of Canadian soccer was miles behind where it is now; there was no CPL, and the national team — at the time ranked 79th in the world — was far from a big fish, even in Concacaf.
"I think the World Cup played a bigger role in the fact that Canadian soccer the last few years enlarged enormously," Sartini said. "Not only with the CPL, but also with [Premier Soccer Leagues Canada] — the possibility to compete for these guys, the possibility to have an outlet to play here in the country. I think we will have even more stories in the future that are non-conventional of guys that are playing for the national team."
Sometimes, a non-conventional path leads to the World Cup.
Sartini knows as well as anybody what kind of power this tournament can have.
The native of Florence has fond memories of Italia '90 — one of the more iconic World Cups of the modern era. A then-14-year-old Sartini remembers attending two matches: a 5-1 win for Czechoslovakia over the United States, and a quarter-final where Argentina snuck past Yugoslavia on penalties, despite Diego Maradona's miss in the shootout.
"I remember the excitement, the fact of having fans from all over the world, the excitement for Italy as a top team trying to win the World Cup," Sartini said.
"The World Cup and the Euros in Italy is beautiful, because every game of the national team becomes like a family celebration or a friends celebration. You're going to your mates and you watch the game together, and that's the special sensation that a World Cup has."
Sartini admits that his personal excitement for the upcoming World Cup did take a dip when Italy failed to qualify. When, initially, it looked as though they might play Canada in the Group B opener in Toronto, Sartini immediately texted Ali Ahmed and Maxime Crépeau asking them to save him a ticket.
Now, with Canada taking on Bosnia and Herzegovina instead, Sartini's loyalties will not be torn.
The Wanderers coach is hoping this 2026 World Cup can have a similar effect on Canadian youngsters as Italia '90 had on him.
"I hope that people, of course in Toronto and Vancouver that have the possibility to watch the games, but also people everywhere in the country, will feel the fact that the World Cup is playing here in our country."
Even in Halifax, Sartini hopes that World Cup Fever can translate into broader general interest in soccer, and in turn direct more fans toward the Canadian Premier League.
Of course, a deep run into the knockout rounds for Canada would help on that front.
"If Canada does well, we can have even people that are adjusting to the sport, but not into the sport too much, to get deeper in the knowledge of 'Oh, we have a professional league,'" Sartini said.
"We can create these allegiances with fans that we didn't have before. Especially for the very young generation; that's what the World Cup did for me when I was very little, like six, seven years old."
Most people's favourite World Cup is the first one they watched as a child.
For many young Canadians, this 2026 edition on home soil will be exactly that, perhaps sparking a lifelong love of the game.
One day, some of them will make it to the global stage as well.
