[11] In 1885, the WFA sent a team to New Jersey to take on a side put forth by the American Football Association, the then-unofficial governing body of the sport in the United States.

On November 28, 1885, in an unofficial friendly, Canada defeated the United States 1–0 at Clark Field in the East Newark neighborhood of Kearny, New Jersey.

[19] The Toronto Mail and Empire of November 18, 1904, reports that "Immediately after the game, the Galt aggregation, numbering about 50 persons, retired to the office of James W. Sullivan, chief of the Department of Physical Culture, where they received their prize.

After a short talk by Mr. James E. Conlon of the Physical Culture Department, Mayor Mundy, of the City of Galt, presented each player on the winning team with a beautiful gold medal.

[27] Following the lead of British soccer associations, Canada withdrew from FIFA in 1928 over a dispute regarding broken time payments to amateur players.

After narrowly qualifying out of the first round, the Canucks were soundly defeated by Costa Rica, Cuba, and Mexico, conceding a total of 14 goals while scoring none.

[33] At the Summer Olympics at home the following year, under head coach Colin Morris, the amateur Canadian side failed to get out of the first round, losing both of their games.

[42] A win in their final game against Cuba would have put them through to Spain, but they were held to a 2–2 draw, allowing El Salvador to qualify as tournament runners-up.

[49][50] However, Canada could not build on their stubborn performance against France, losing their next two matches to both Hungary and the Soviet Union 0–2,[51][52] finishing the group stage in last place with zero points.

[64] The loss meant Canada finished second and advanced to an intercontinental play-off series where they needed to win two rounds to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

[69] With three countries set to qualify out of CONCACAF for the 1998 World Cup, and with Canada handily winning their second round group over El Salvador, Panama, and Cuba,[70] expectations were high for a second qualification in 12 years in the spring of 1997.

Having overseen two consecutive World Cup campaigns ending in the side failing to qualify, Lenarduzzi stepped down in 1997 and was replaced by interim head coach Bruce Twamley.

[72] After emerging from the first round on a coin-toss tiebreaker with invited side Republic of Korea, the Canucks scored a quarter-final upset win over Mexico.

[74] Canada swept the awards ceremony, with goalkeeper Craig Forrest winning MVP honours, Carlo Corazzin securing the Golden Boot, and Richard Hastings named Rookie of the Tournament.

[80] Canada had another strong showing in the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup, losing to the United States in the semi-finals in penalties, and then defeating South Korea in the third-place game, 2–1.

The Gold Cup was held the following year, and Canada was eliminated in the first round on goal difference, leading to head coach Osieck resigning in September 2003 and former player Colin Miller put in charge as an interim.

The team faced criticism for its poor handling of goalkeeper Greg Sutton, who suffered a concussion during a practice prior to the start of the Gold Cup.

Under Mitchell, Canada drew friendlies with Iceland and against Costa Rica, lost 0–2 to South Africa, had a 1–0 win over Martinique, and a 0–2 defeat to Estonia.

Stephen Hart's first competitive action as the full-time head coach was a poor showing at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, not managing to get out of the group stage.

[83] Being a coach with top-flight management experience in La Liga, he was expected to help Canada raise its competitiveness prior to 2018 World Cup qualifying.

In the midst of Floro's player identification and restructuring phase, the team experienced many difficulties including a 958-minute goal-scoring drought, which was finally broken by Atiba Hutchinson in a 1–1 draw with Bulgaria on May 23, 2014.

In the return leg at BMO Field in front of 9,749 fans they defeated Dominica 4–0 with two goals from Tosaint Ricketts and one each from Tesho Akindele and Cyle Larin.

The team did not score a single goal and finished last in their group in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup after two 0–0 draws to El Salvador and Costa Rica, while also suffering a 1–0 loss against Jamaica.

The first match was played in Vancouver at BC Place against Honduras, resulting in a 1–0 win for Canada thanks to a deflected goal by Cyle Larin.

[120][121][122] Interim coach Mauro Biello was tasked with guiding the team through the quarter-finals of the 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League A in November 2023, where victory in a two-legged aggregate match or away goals rule against Jamaica would both send them to the following spring's semi-finals and qualify them to participate in CONMEBOL's 2024 Copa América.

Leading halfway through, the team collapsed to lose 3–2 in the second half and 3–2 on away goals, as a result missing both the Nations League semi-final and immediate qualification to the Copa América.

[131][132] In advance of the Copa América, Marsch's first matches with the team were two friendlies against high-profile opponents, first a lopsided 4–0 loss to the Netherlands,[133] and then a goalless draw with second-ranked France that was generally considered a major success.

They led 2–1 for the final ten minutes of regulation, but allowed a tying goal in stoppage time, and lost 4–3 on penalties to finish fourth.

Due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada played their home games for the first and second rounds of 2022 World Cup qualifying in stadiums in the United States.

Key The following table shows Canada's all-time official international record per opponent: National teams Men's Women's