TORONTO – As Canada’s bus slowly traveled southbound through Toronto’s clogged rush hour arteries, players sat glued to their phones. They watched Bosnia and Herzegovina pull off a surprise upset over Italy – and perhaps watched their World Cup fortunes change as well.

The winner of the game knew it would be bound for the same destination Canada was heading towards, BMO Field, for the World Cup Group B opener in less than three months. Amid the hollering that would have echoed off the bus windows when Bosnia’s 21-year-old Esmir Bajraktarević scored the team’s final, winning penalty, Canada’s players were within their right to let their World Cup imaginations wander, even if their words were a bit more measured.

“Every game is going to be a war,” goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau said. “Every game is going to be so tight. Small margins will make the difference. One false step will make a difference in those games, so I think for us our goal is to win every single game that we are going into. That’s our mentality and we need to approach it this way.”

Italy was long assumed to be Canada’s first opponent. All the complexity that would have come in the form of fandom hailing from Toronto’s Little Italy, not to mention the Azzurri’s historical pedigree, could have started the cohosts’ World Cup on the wrong foot. Instead, the outlook is altered considerably.

“I’m very surprised Italy didn’t go through,” midfielder Ismaël Koné said. “I thought with the experience they have, with the high-quality players they have, by now, after missing two World Cups, they would be here, but you know, it’s football.”

Indeed it is. And that means it will be the Bosnians standing in the way of Canada’s first World Cup point on June 12.

“It’s a hard team,” manager Jesse Marsch said of the team that completes a group also featuring Switzerland and Qatar. “I don’t know if you (heard Bosnia forward Edin Džeko’s) comment after the game, but he dedicated (the win) to a group of friends who were killed in a bombing when he was young. These kids grew up in a war-torn country and a lot of them were lucky to escape.

“These young men have been through a lot in life, and I think it really served them well in the last week where they were in difficult situations.”

Once that reality set in on the team bus, some players might have had another thought. It was the same thought that many around the country would have had on Tuesday afternoon before a weather-delayed 0-0 draw with Tunisia. Does facing Bosnia instead of Italy help Canada’s chances of winning their World Cup group?

That’s been Marsch’s stated goal for some time now, with the reward a knockout game in Vancouver.

“I think watching the game today, you could tell Bosnia were a good team,” Canada winger Liam Millar said. “They had more passes, obviously. I know Italy had a red card. But even before Italy got their red card I felt like (Bosnia) were the better team in the game. So, they’re a good team. We can’t underestimate them. They’re going to come here with energy.”

For Canada to achieve that ambitious goal, two things need to happen, and there were reminders of both through Tuesday night’s friendly.

First, Canada desperately needs to get healthy for June 12.

There should be a CN Tower-sized asterisk over Canada’s March window, as the list of missing players was significant: Alphonso Davies, Moïse Bombito, Stephen Eustáquio, Alistair Johnston and Alfie Jones all missed games due to injury. All could start at the World Cup. Koné and Tajon Buchanan each missed a game because of respective red cards. Each will be World Cup starters. Derek Cornelius and Luc de Fougerolles both did not appear to be match-fit, and only Cornelius played as a substitute. Both could also find themselves as summer starters.

The injury crisis that was a talking point heading into this window continued. So for as much consternation as there will be about Canada failing to score from open play during the window, it’s worth considering the circumstances. If the gaps in synergy and communication that popped up through the window are eradicated through a full training camp with a full roster, the chances of getting out of – or, yes, winning – the group will improve.

If Canada can get the quality it missed in March back, then chances of breaking apart a likely low block from Bosnia improves. So, too, do the chances of putting multiple goals by Qatar, which will be necessary. With a perceived weak team in the group, goal differential might matter as a tie breaker. And the intelligence that Eustáquio, Bombito and Johnston bring while defending could help Canada stymy a clinical Switzerland side.

Bosnia-Herzegovina completes Group B at the World Cup with Canada, Switzerland and Qatar (Getty Images)

Little will matter about the identity of the opposition, though if, beyond a return to full strength, Canada can’t start scoring from open play.

Marsch’s men have now have failed to score in four of their last six matches and have scored from open play in just one of their last seven.

Get Jonathan David more involved in the build-up; get Tani Oluwaseyi feeling more confident and clinical around goal; get Cyle Larin to transfer his white-hot club form to his national team and get another surprise forward to create some chances, and Canada won’t be having the conversation about goal droughts in the summer heat.

While that certainly feels like a lot has to go right, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Canada put four past Ukraine in June and added three against Romania less than three months later. Canada routed Honduras with six goals from five scorers in the Gold Cup last summer.

And goals certainly seem more possible with Marcelo Flores in the fold. In his second game for Canada, Flores’ dribbling prowess and his ability in the opposition box was a bright spot. He looks dynamic enough to be thrown into the fire and start if facing a low block.

“We knew what (Flores) could bring to the table,” Crépeau said after the draw against Tunisia. “Tonight was a small appetizer for what the future can hold.”

The ambition Canada continues to show matters. Even without having gotten a point in the World Cup before, there’s belief in progression this summer. And that belief may now be stronger than ever in the wake of Italy’s surprise demise.

“I know we have quality in the team and I know we can score goals,” Marsch said.