The Maple Leafs left no doubt with first-half strikes from Cyle Larin and Tajon Buchanan, before Junior Hoilett added a third, with Adrian Mariappa’s 88th minute own goal rounded out the joyous victory in Toronto.
“I think this country, they never believed in us because we’ve given them nothing to believe in. They believe now,” Canada coach John Herdman said.
“I think if we all get behind each other this is the time for everyone to get behind football and unite. Because we can be a powerhouse. And it’s time.”
The current generation of Canadian talent includes Lille goal machine Jonathan David and Bayern Munich’s Champions League winner Alphonso Davies.
“We’re a football country,” Herdman said. “We’ve got a kid winning Champions League finals. We’ve got players all over Europe.
“We’ve got young kids coming through. And we’ve just qualified for a World Cup. This is a legit football country.”
Meanwhile, United States and Mexico made major strides towards World Cup qualification with victories on Sunday.
USA thrashed Panama 5-1 on Orlando led by Christian Pulisic’s hat-trick to all but secure their spot in Qatar. Team USA simply needs to avoid a six-goal defeat away to Costa Rica in their final game to seal automatic qualification.
Mexico have had a stuttering campaign but won 1-0 in Honduras, leaving them three points ahead of the fourth-placed Ticos with one game to play. The top three automatically qualify, while fourth will enter a playoff against the best side from Oceania.