Mexico vs. Canada, World Cup 2018 qualifying: Time, TV schedule and live stream

The Headliner: A long night in Mexico City

This is as hard as it is going to get for the Canadian men's national team in CONCACAF. Mexico are far and away the best team in the region, something that Canada discovered in full on Friday. But they are significantly better at their home stadium, Estadio Azteca, where they have only lost twice in World Cup qualifying.

Canada has only ever had one result at Estadio Azteca, a 1-1 draw in 1980. For the most part however they have been on the wrong side of some lopsided results in the Mexican capital. This includes an 8-0 demolition in 1993, something Canada will hoping to completely avoid today.

Getting a result, even one that isn't embarrassing, won't be easy for the team. They will be playing at altitude in front of what is expected to be a crowd of 75,000 and will have to deal with a Mexican team that is completely comfortable with its surroundings.

Too comfortable, Canada will hope, and they will be able to hold off the Mexican attack long enough to get an unlikely point. If they can it would make a huge difference in their chances of making the final round of World Cup qualifying for the first time since 1998 qualifiers.

More important, perhaps, will be what happens in the other group game tonight, which kicks off at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. If the two teams draw again, which they did on Friday, then Canada will remain in second place in the group. More than likely, however, one of the two teams will win and could overtake the Canadians going into the final two games of the group in September.

Keys to the Game: Stay Organized and Get Lucky

There is no straightforward strategy to beating Mexico at Azteca, if there was they would have lost more than twice in qualifying. The only technique that has ever really been effective has been bunkering up defensively and then catching the Mexican team when they push too far forward.

That's what Honduras did in 2013 when they earned a shocking 2-1 win at Azteca. It's what Canada will have to do to perfection if they want to somehow get anything out of tonight's game. They have to remain organized, press their advantages, and hope like heck that Mexico miss a number of chances.

Tactically this will mean staying organized in a way they were not able to do at BC Place. It will mean largely sacrificing offense for survival. The good news is that Canada has done this effectively in the past, for example during a 1-0 loss to Colombia. But it's going to take a complete performance from the side to do anything.

Squads:

Canada: Borjan, Henry, James, Jakovic, De Jong, Ledgerwood, Hutchinson, Johnson, de Guzman, Hoilett, Larin

Mexico: Corona, Layun, Moreno, Araujo, Aguilar, Molina, Guardado, Herrera, Fabian, Corona, Jimenez

More Information:

Location: Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico

Kick-off time: 10:30 PM Eastern

Available TV: TSN 2

Available streaming: TSN GO

For listings in other countries, check out LiveSoccerTV.com.