Historic win puts Canada on verge of advancing at FIFA World Cup
A dominant 6-0 shutout against Qatar at BC Place puts Canada at the top of Group B and within striking distance of the knockout stage.
By Daniel Squizzato of the Canadian Olympic Committee
Team Canada picked up its first-ever win at a senior men’s FIFA World Cup on Thursday, defeating Qatar 6-0 at Vancouver’s BC Place.
The crowd of nearly 53,000 was raucous from the get-go, with the home team providing plenty to cheer about. Jonathan David scored a hat trick, with Cyle Larin and Nathan Saliba also scoring for Canada.
But the mood was somewhat dampened by an apparently serious injury to midfielder Ismaël Koné. He left the game on a stretcher in the second half, raising the tensions for the remainder of the match.
“He means everything to this team,” said David of his injured teammate. “It was a difficult moment. But we have to stay strong for him, and do it for him.”
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Head coach Jesse Marsch’s starting lineup featured nine of the 11 players who started Canada’s 1-1 draw last week in Toronto.
Larin, the goal-scoring hero from Canada’s opener, started in place of Tani Oluwaseyi. Ali Ahmed — who has plenty of experience at BC Place after three seasons with the Vancouver Whitecaps — started in place of Liam Millar.
Canada’s players prior to kickoff of the match against Qatar on Thursday. (Credit: Audrey Magny/Canada Soccer)
The atmosphere was electric inside BC Place in the lead-up to kickoff. Canadian icon Christine Sinclair was there to hand off the coin to the referee for the coin toss.
Larin opened the scoring in the 16th minute, sending the Vancouver crowd into bedlam. David doubled that advantage in the 29th minute, when he blasted home a right-footed volley.
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Tajon Buchanan was then taken down on a breakaway in the 31st minute. The referee showed Qatar’s Homam Ahmed a red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, bringing Qatar down to 10 men for the remainder of the match.
David scored his second goal in second-half stoppage time, leaving Canada up 3-0 at halftime. It was a big moment for the striker, who’d faced some criticism for his performance in the opening match.
Asked after the Qatar match about responding to that criticism with three goals, he smiled and remarked, “it’s a striker’s life.”
Canada players celebrate after scoring a goal against Qatar in a FIFA World Cup match on Thursday. (Credit: Audrey Magny/Canada Soccer)
It was shortly after halftime that Koné suffered a grievous tackle from Qatar’s Assim Madibo. It was a red-card offence, reducing Qatar to nine men.
Captain Stephen Eustáquio quickly gathered teammates around Koné, sensing that it was a serious situation.
“I saw his leg, I saw that something wasn’t right,” said Eustáquio. “I just wanted the medical staff to get in as quickly as possible so they could provide help for him.”
Eustáquio said after the match that while the team has plenty of quality midfielders, Koné has an “x-factor” that will be difficult to replace.
Nathan Saliba holds up an Ismael Kone jersey after scoring against Qatar on Thursday. (Credit: Audrey Magny/Canada Soccer)
Saliba, who entered the match in place of Koné, put Canada up 4-0 with a wonderful free kick in the 64th minute. Saliba held up Koné’s jersey as a tribute after the goal.
Urged on by the crowd, and knowing that goal differential could be crucial in this tournament, Canada kept pressing relentlessly.
“It was amazing,” said David. “After every goal they got louder, and that gave us more hunger to get the next one and the next one.”
In the 75th minute, Jacob Shaffelburg launched a shot that forced a Qatar own goal. David then completed his hat trick in second-half stoppage time to make it 6-0.
“I just want to thank everybody from Vancouver, and from Canada overall,” said Eustáquio. “It’s such a wonderful stadium, and I really feel that we’re a soccer country.
“Today was a very special day.”
What’s next?
Earlier in the day, Switzerland beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-1. Thanks to the big scoreline against Qatar, Canada sits first in Group B, edging out the Swiss on goal differential.
The final group-stage games for all four teams in Group B will take place at 12 pm PT / 3 pm ET on Wednesday, June 24. Canada plays Switzerland at BC Place; Qatar faces off with Bosnia and Herzegovina in Seattle.
Canada would win Group B with a win or draw against Switzerland. That would ensure their Round of 32 match would be played in Vancouver.
Even with a loss against Switzerland, Canada is likely to advance. The teams finishing first and second in the group will qualify for the Round of 32. The third-place finisher could advance, but needs to await results in other groups.
The fourth-place team is eliminated from the tournament — but we now know, with certainty, that that won’t be the Canadians.