TORONTO - Josh Simpson scored twice as Canada started its 2014 World Cup qualifying journey in somewhat unconvincing fashion before dispatching Caribbean minnow St. Lucia 4-1 Friday night.

The Canadian men bossed the game but were tied 1-1 at the 50-minute mark before finally pulling away from an amateur squad ranked No. 184 in the world.

It made for one ugly win for a game that had been one-way traffic.

After early goals by Simpson and St. Lucia's Tremain Paul, the Canadians were unable to breach a shaky St. Lucian defence until the referee stepped in.

Dwayne De Rosario broke the deadlock with a 51st-minute penalty after Pernal Williams handled an Ante Jazic cross into the box.

It was De Rosario's 18th goal for Canada, one behind Dale Mitchell's record of 19.

St. Lucia came close three minutes later with a Kevin Edward header off a free kick that hit the side of the net.

Simpson added to the lead with a 61st-minute goal, slotting the ball home after Atiba Hutchinson sent him in alone. It could have be 4-1 in the 80th minute but a St. Lucia defender cleared the ball off the goal-line.

There were more missed opportunities -- wide shots, timely blocks, unlucky bounces -- as the clock wound down before substitute Will Johnson made it 4-1 in stoppage time.

St. Lucia's Williams was sent off for a second yellow card in the 88th minute.

The game drew a vocal pro-Canada crowd of 11,500 to BMO Field on a damp night. There were cheers for St. Lucia as well, particularly from the north stand.

Canada is ranked 102nd in the world, 82 places higher than St. Lucia -- a teardrop-shaped island of some 170,000 located north of Trinidad and Tobago.

As the country's national anthem puts it, St. Lucia is "land of beaches, hills and valleys, fairest isle of all the earth."

Its defence is rocky, however.

The St. Lucia team looked outclassed and the Canadians came at them in waves early on. The visitors seemed to be fielding a six-man backline when Canada had the ball, but the Canadians still found holes.

The finishing was off, however. Still every Canadian attack was an adventure for the St. Lucia defence.

The St. Lucians weren't above rough-housing when needed and several Canadians found themselves bodied to the ground. The visitors seemed somewhat more brittle when the shoe was on the other foot, with many requiring time-consuming medical attention.

The Canadian attack was all too rushed in the first half and coach Stephen Hart was gesturing on the sidelines for his side to be patient and take its time.

But the Canadians continued to push and were unable to turn their overwhelming edge in possession into more first-half goals.

Overall Canada outshot St. Lucia 30-6 (15-1 in shots on target) and had 12 corners to none for the visitors.

Simeon Jackson typified Canada's problems in first-half injury time when he missed the ball completely as he tried to take a shot in the box.

Canada travels south to meet No. 144 Puerto Rico on Tuesday. No. 122 St. Kitts and Nevis is the other team in the group.

Should Canada win its pool, it faces two more qualifying stages in the region that covers North and Central America and the Caribbean before it can book its ticket to Brazil in 2014.

The Canadian onslaught started early, with De Rosario repeatedly carving open the visitors' defence.

Canada won a corner in the first minute and St. Lucia 'keeper Iran Cassius was forced to make a save off Iain Hume after a nice backheel from De Rosario. In the fifth, a St. Lucia defender cleared the ball off his own crossbar.

Simpson scored in the sixth minute, collecting a raking ball across the box from De Rosario and sending a shot that bounced in off Cassius.

Just when it seem the floodgates were about to open, St. Lucia's Paul struck back in the seventh with a long-range shot from well outside the penalty box that swerved out of the reach of Lars Hirschfeld.

St. Lucia survived the first round of qualifying by defeating Aruba 5-4 on penalty kicks after the two-legged playoff finished tied 6-6.

Friday's game was the first of a journey that will last three rounds, 22 games and 25 months if Canada makes it to the final stretch in CONCACAF qualifying.

Canada's lone success in World Cup qualifying came when it reached the 1986 finals.