VANCOUVER — This was one for the history books.
Winless in its previous seven games since making its World Cup debut in 1986, the Canadian men’s team finally earned its first-ever victory in the hallowed competition with an emphatic 6-0 decision over Qatar before a rapturous crowd of 52,497 at BC Place on Thursday.
Jonathan David registered a hat trick, and Cyle Larin and Nathan Saliba also scored for Canada in a dominant display against Qatar, which had two players red-carded in the 33rd and 54th minutes and scored an own goal.
Canada and Switzerland are tied atop Group B with four points apiece, but Canada sits in first based on a superior goal difference (plus-six versus plus-three). Bosnia and Herzegovina and Qatar each have one point. Canada wraps up Group B play on June 24 when it faces Switzerland at BC Place, needing only a draw to win the group.
If Canada finishes first, it will play its round of 32 game in Vancouver (a potential round of 16 contest would also be at BC Place). If Canada advances as a second- or third-place team, it will play all of its knockout games in the United States, losing its home advantage.
While this result doesn’t officially mean Canada has advanced out of Group B, its place in the round of 32 is virtually assured, and it stands a very good chance of staying in Vancouver. So, this was a massive result for the Canadians.
“When I came here, the vision was more than just this World Cup,” Canadian coach Jesse Marsch said after the game. “Obviously, a big carrot was the fact that it was a home World Cup, but it was to change the sport in the country; to drive interest, to drive expertise, to educate, and to create a pathway for the future. And to create an identity for what Canadian soccer could be, and you can say and do all the right things, but you need moments like today. You need moments where everybody remembers what happened. No one will forget this, and no Canadian will forget this day.”
At the same time, a sombre cloud hangs over the team, leading to muted Canadian celebrations after this historic win.
Qatar’s second red card came when Assim Madibo committed a late tackle from behind on Ismaël Koné early in the second half that sent the midfielder back to the locker room on a stretcher with a suspected broken leg. It’s expected that Koné, one of Canada’s most influential players, will be ruled out for the rest of the World Cup.
Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s match.
Coach’s prediction about Jonathan David comes true
Marsch called it.
David entered this contest as the all-time leading scorer in the history of the men’s team with 39 goals in 78 games. But he had come in for heavy criticism from fans and media alike over his recent dry spell – he hadn’t scored in open play for Canada since last September, and his only goals in his previous 10 appearances came from the penalty spot.
The Juventus forward didn’t cover himself in glory in Canada’s World Cup opener last week in Toronto in a 1-1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He spurned a glorious scoring chance in the first half and was eventually subbed out in the 61st minute – it was his earliest exit from a game since Marsch’s tenure in charge began in May 2024.
But that didn’t deter Marsch from going back to David for this match against Qatar, telling reporters beforehand: “He’s not done scoring, people. OK, so get ready, just put your seat belts on and get ready.”
David repaid Marsch’s faith with the best performance of his national team career by becoming only the second player at this summer’s World Cup to score a hat trick. Lionel Messi is the other.
Whereas David was practically anonymous vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, he was at the heart of Canada’s bristling attack against the overmatched Qataris.
David opened his account in the 29th minute with a right-footed volley from inside the box into the bottom corner after Tajon Buchanan’s original shot deflected into his path. He grabbed a second goal just before halftime, tapping home from inside the six-yard box after Qatar’s goalkeeper denied Larin with a fabulous save at the near post. David completed his hat trick in injury time, slotting home with a swivel shot from close range after Saliba’s original attempt on goal hit him.
Three goals on a game-high five shots on target. Not bad for a player mired in a terrible slump. Other players might have taken the public criticism to heart. But not David, dubbed “The Iceman,” who just took it all in stride and rose to the occasion when his country needed him the most.
“I mean, it’s a striker’s life. You get criticized when you don’t score, so it’s normal,” he said.
A devastating moment for Ismaël Koné
Up 3-0, Canada could smell blood in the water and put Qatar under vice-like pressure as it mercilessly searched for more goals against their short-handed opponents.
That’s when it happened.
Koné was clattered into from behind – and a good forty yards from his opponent’s goal – via a sweeping tackle from Qatari midfielder Assim Madibo. How forceful was Madibo’s reckless challenge? So forceful that the sound of Koné’s apparent leg break could be heard from the upper tier of BC Place.
The young midfielder, who was Canada’s man-of-the-match vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, crashed to the ground in pain, holding his left leg in the air while teammate Stephen Eustáquio ran to comfort him and then immediately waved to the bench for the medical staff to rush onto the pitch and provide him with aid.
The referee and his assistants had to separate players and coaches from both teams near the touchline before tensions completely boiled over. Fans sang Koné’s name and he waved back in appreciation while being carted off the pitch.
Details are still to be confirmed, but it would appear the youngster’s World Cup is over before it ever had a chance to really warm up.
“I haven’t spoken to Ismail yet, but he’s at the hospital. He will prepare for a surgery. … It happened right in front of the bench. We could all hear it,” Marsch said.
“Your heart goes out to him, and everybody’s a little shaken by the whole experience, because of the nature of the injury, and also because Ismaël is a big part of the heart of our team. It will be a big loss for us. He’s been an amazing player in these last two games.”
Captain Alphonso Davies added: “It’s a shock for everyone. You never expect these things in the game of football, especially injuries like this.”
Koné and Eustáquio have formed one of the most important partnerships on the pitch for Canada as the twin engines that run things in central midfield. The question now becomes who takes Koné’s place?
The answer could be fellow youngster Saliba, who was subbed on after Koné left and scored just seven minutes later when he bent a free kick from 20 yards out around Qatar’s defensive wall, off the crossbar and into the back of the net. He celebrated by holding up a jersey with Koné’s name as BC Place erupted into a state of delirium.
Canada ruthless in showing Qatar no mercy
One of the criticisms that has dogged this Canadian team for the longest time, long before Jesse Marsch took over the coaching reins, is that it suffered from a lack of a killer instinct.
Too often, Canada didn’t go for the kill and pile on the goals even when it could and it was in firm control of the game – last summer’s 6-0 win over Honduras at the Concacaf Gold Cup in Vancouver was a noticeable exception.
On Thursday, the Canadians shed their nice guy attitude and showed no mercy in pumping six goals past Qatar. Even at 3-0 when the game was well in hand, the Canadians ruthlessly went in search of more goals.
After Saliba scored to give Canada a four-goal lead, a loud chant of “We want five!” came from the Vancouver crowd, and they got their wish. Substitute Jacob Shaffleburg’s volley off a Buchanan delivery into the box was swiped into the back of the net by Qatar’s Mohamed Manai as he attempted to make a goal-line clearance.
David’s injury-time goal made it six on the day for Canada, who by the end of the match was just toying with Qatar, eliciting “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants from the crowd before the referee mercifully blew his whistle.
It might have looked easy at times against an undermanned Qatar, but Canada’s six-goal effort might mark the beginning of a new era for a team that will try to hammer sides and won’t apologize for it.
“This is not a normal moment for the country, and I think we need to accentuate the success of the moment. We will stay grounded. We won’t get ahead of ourselves. I’ll make sure that the team is ready to focus and concentrate and compete to win the group and set ourselves up truly for success in this tournament,” Marsch said.
“But I learned in this business that big moments don’t come so easy, and you have to appreciate them, and you have to celebrate them, and I wanted to make sure that the stadium did, I wanted to make sure that our team did.”
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 27 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.
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