After years of toiling as a mid-card level event, Canada’s men’s national soccer team may finally be becoming a major sporting event.

The team assembles in Vancouver next week and Canada Soccer announced on Thursday that they’ve surpassed the 46,000 mark in ticket sales for the highly anticipated 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture against regional powerhouses Mexico.

“We’re already at over 46,000 and getting over 50,000 is more than a possibility, it’s a probability,” CSA president Victor Montagliani told The midday show on TSN Radio in Vancouver on Thursday. “I think a full sell-out at 54,000 is a strong possibility. The team comes in this weekend and it will create more awareness.”

It’s the first of two games the two nations will play as they head to Mexico for a return game at the fabled Azteca Stadium the following Tuesday night.

BC Place could very well be a sea of green as Mexican supporters from south of the border could head north but based on the encouraging signs of a partisan Canadian crowd in November when Canada beat Honduras 1-0, the majority could be Canadian supporters and it could be a turning point for the long-suffering Canadian supporters known as ‘The Voyageurs.’

“The perennial Voyageurs lament that we’re getting out-cheered in our own stadium. I have a feeling it’s not going to happen this time. It’s going to be a lot better crowd,” said Voyageurs member Rob Notenboom, who will be making the trip to Vancouver for the game from his home in Regina.

It’s a small but passionate group that follows the Canadian team. Notenboom’s soccer journeys have taken him to Canadian games, both men’s and women’s teams to Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and a number of cities in the United States while it’s not uncommon for other Canadian fans to travel to road games in Central America or the Caribbean.

Canada's Christine Sinclair (12) celebrates after scoring a goal with Desiree Scott (11) against Costa Rica during the second half of a CONCACAF Olympic women's soccer qualifying championship semifinal Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, in Houston. Canada won 3-1. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) More

While the women’s program draws big crowds wherever they play in Canada, the men’s team has lagged behind as their results have largely stayed mediocre over the past few years.

But the growth of soccer as a whole in Canada has had a spillover with more people paying attention to the national program and that has translated into genuine buzz that has been helped by a promising start in this round of World Cup qualifying where Canada picked up four points in its first two games and the Canadian Soccer Association is putting a lot of effort into making the home games feel like big events.

More than 20,000 fit into BC Place for that Honduras game in November and that’s going to be more than eclipsed next week.

“For years, people didn’t have a lot good to say about the CSA. Some of that is starting to change,” Notenboom said. “I know complaining is still Canada’s national pastime but there’s still a little less to complain about. The classiness of the stadium in November. You walked in and this place looked really good.”

All that really remains is for the men’s team to translate that growing fervour in the stands on the field.

2015 saw Canada get past modest opposition in Dominica and Belize before that win over Honduras and draw on the road against El Salvador. But the team also didn’t score a goal in three games in the Gold Cup and questions do still remain about the team’s goal scoring.

A boisterous home crowd combined with a positive result against Mexico on Good Friday puts the team closer to an improbable berth in the final round of World Cup qualifying, known as ‘the Hex,’ as there are six teams that take part in that round.

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