BC History: George Pakos and Canada's First World Cup

Born and raised in Victoria, BC, George Pakos, had a very lengthy playing career that saw him earn 33 appearances for the Canadian Men's National Team despite only playing amateur soccer. 

Pakos began playing with Gorge SC, with whom he won a Sun Tournament Championship in 1967. Moving up to adult with Victoria United, Pakos was the PCL “Rookie of the Year” in 1972-73. From 1973 to 1976, George played for London Boxing Club, who were BC provincial champions and won the Canadian national club championship in 1975, and for whom he scored 42 goals his first season.

At the age of 31, while playing for the Vancouver Island Selects, Pakos caught the eye of Canadian Coaches and ended up scoring two goals for the Canadian Olympic team. He was then selected for the 1985 Canadian National Team that was looking to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Mexico in 1986. 

On 25 August 1985, Pakos came on as a substitute and scored the only goal of the game as Canada beat Honduras in front of 50,000 Honduras fans. Then, on 14 September 1985 Canada hosted Honduras in the reverse fixture at St. Johns, Newfoundland. Pakos scored from a corner by Carl Valentine. Canada won 2-1 and qualified for the 1986 World Cup finals. The only World Cup appearance for the Canadian Men until Qatar in 2022. 

From 1983 to 1987, Pakos played 33 times for Canada’s MNT, scoring ten goals. Every time George played games for Canada, he was on vacation time or unpaid leave from his job with the City of Vancouver because he remained an amateur soccer player. 

In 2026, Pakos was inducted to the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame for his contributions to the National Team during his playing days. 

To learn more about the man that scored the goals that took Canada to its first World Cup, visit the BC Soccer Heritage Archives.