Hibs ace eyes Scottish Cup and World Cup dream double as Junior continues to defy odds
Celtic challenge accepted head-on as Canadian chases trophy win
Impossible is just an opinion, right? Junior Hoilett certainly thinks so.
Tell the Canadian international that the odds are stacked against Hibs at Celtic Park tomorrow and, quite frankly, he’s unlikely to pay much attention. Living proof of football’s ability to thrive in the most unpromising of environments, the boy from Brampton, Ontario might even point to his own personal story AND his home nation’s rapid rise as proof of talent and enthusiasm finding a way.
From growing up without so much as a professional football team to support, never mind a proper pathway to follow, the much-travelled Hoilett holds serious ambitions to represent Canada in a World Cup on home soil next summer. Hoilett, who represented his country at the 2022 World up in Qatar, admits that playing games just a few miles from his childhood home would represent something of a dream.
Before he gets around to that, however, the former Blackburn, QPR, Cardiff, Reading, Vancouver and Aberdeen attacker has business to finish at Hibs. At the age of 34, he’s eager to finally lift a trophy that means something.
“For me personally I'd love to win a competition,” said Hoilett. “It would be good to not only put on a CV but put up in my house on the wall. That's one of my motivations, to try and get a cup under my belt.
“If you want to win the cup you've got to go against the best. Why not? Now we're on a good momentum and full of confidence. We’re good run and the team is high on belief - so I think teams will fear us as well.
“You can see the run we're on and the amount of quality we have in the squad now. We have practically a fully fit squad so not only the star 11 but people coming off the bench. It's a solid line-up so we have enough quality to go out there and win the game.”
Hibs putting together a 15-game unbeaten run in all competitions, their 13 games without loss in the league equalling a record dating back to 1949, is obviously generating a bit of attention. Beating Celtic, Dundee United and Hearts in the space of eight days even caught more than a few Canadian eyes, with Hoilett admitting he got a lot of messages from back home.
2026 World Cup in USA and Canada
For a kid who grew up in the long wilderness years between the demise of the old NASL and the rise of MLS, simply having anyone in Canada pay this much attention occasionally feels a bit surreal. But not half as incredible as being part of a World Cup with fixtures in Toronto and Vancouver.
“It would be massive to play another World Cup, especially on home soil in Toronto,” he said, adding: “Whoever we play against, to be there in front of my family and friends back home would be a massive achievement and a dream.
“When I was a kid growing up, we didn't even have a domestic team. The Toronto FC came on later on, think I was around 15 or 16. So we didn't really have a domestic team, no team to support in the local community.
“So to get a World Cup in the back garden is a massive achievement for the sport of Canada. You can see how much the sport has grown over the short period of time.
"Canada is a very domestic country. What I mean is there's a lot of different cultures over there.
“I grew up in a Caribbean household, so my dad was a football fan. There's a lot of Italians, Portuguese and South American communities and a lot of grassroots football out there.
“But growing up we didn't have a domestic way out. The only way out was to play abroad. Now we have Toronto FC, Montreal, Vancouver all playing at a high level in the MLS.
"To be honest, growing up you only think about playing for your country really. Growing up, one of the things I was watching was the World Cup. One of my goals was to play in the World Cup.
“But to be here now playing in such a big domestic league and going into a cup game this weekend is a massive achievement for not only me but for this club to go on and try to get the win to take us to Hampden.”
Hoilett will be up against an international team-mate tomorrow, with Celtic fullback Alistair Johnston pretty much an ever present under Brendan Rodgers, the Hibs man insisting: "I always knew he would be good. He's a very confident and strong player. To see how well he's done over here to gel so quickly and play for a top team and play in the top leagues, the Champions League, is great for Canada. I'm happy for him.
“He's my rival this weekend so I can't keep boosting him up! He's done major and he's done big stuff for Canada so to keep that going for him is good for the sport in Canada. “
Hoilett’s role with Hibs has changed as forwards return from injury, with competition restricting the veteran to more of an impact role in recent weeks. Able to play up front, out wide or in the No. 10 position, he usual makes a difference when he comes on, with a goal against Dundee United and some outstanding moments late in the derby win over Hearts underlining his value.
Out of contract at the end of the season, would Hoilett be happy to stay on as a super sub? He’s predictably diplomatic on the subject, stressing how much he loves life at Hibs – he gave former Dons team-mate Jamie McGrath the hard sell before the Irishman signed a pre-contract for next season – but keeping his options open.
Hibs would miss his creativity. And, it turns out, some of his tunes in the dressing room.
Revealing that dad David had fostered a love of music as well as a fondness for football in his son, Hoilett said: "Yeah, my dad is a DJ and a producer. He used to do a lot of reggae music.
“Growing up in the house over here he used to have a lot of dub plates and records playing every Sunday. I grew up with a love of reggae music. To be fair, I was just playing some music in the dressing room, yeah.”
Will Hoilett be firing up the post-match victory tunes in the away dressing room at Celtic Park tomorrow? The home side are heavy favourites with the odds makers. But impossible? Junior isn’t buying it.