World Cup: Canada and Bosnia & Herzegovina share spoils without Davies and Džeko | OneFootball

Canada earned their first World Cup point in a battling performance against Bosnia & Herzegovina. Schalke's striker Edin Džeko was a doubt before the game, and he was an unused substitute in a hotly-contested encounter. 

Nikola Vasilj (St. Pauli), Nikola Katić (Schalke) and Ermedin Demirović (VfB Stuttgart) started for Bosnia & Herzegovina. Bayer Leverkusen’s returnee Kerim Alajbegović and Karlsruhe’s midfielder Dženis Burnić came off the bench under difficult circumstances for Sergej Barbarez's side. 

Canada's only German-based player Alphonso Davies (FC Bayern) missed the game due to injury, as did Bosnian striker Haris Tabaković (Gladbach).

The early exchanges were dominated by set-piece chances at either end, which benefitted Bosnia & Herzegovina as they took the lead in the 21st minute. Jovo Lukić, who was making his competitive debut, scored his first international goal after Sead Kolašinac headed Ivan Bašić's corner-kick in his direction.

The Cluj forward was only given a chance due to Haris Tabaković's injury and Edin Džeko not being fit enough to start. Canada’s own strikers Jonathan David and Tani Oluwaseyi missed golden chances either end of the goal, in addition to Stephen Eustáquio's numerous wasted deliveries from dead-ball situations.

Vasilj had a busy start to the second-half as Jesse Marsch's men stepped up their efforts. The St. Pauli shot-stopper was helped by the ex-Schalke and Hoffenheim all-rounder Kolašinac and Katic when they made superb last-ditch interventions in the space of a few minutes. At the other end, Demirović was unable to beat Maxime Crepeau in a one-on-one chance.

The co-hosts got a deserved equalizer with a brilliant finish by substitute Cyle Larin in the 78th minute. The Southampton striker, who found the net a couple of minutes after his introduction, nearly won it for Canada in injury-time before another last-gasp block came to Vasilj's rescue.

Canada will face the 2022 hosts Qatar in their next group stage game, while Bosnia play against Switzerland. The other teams from the group will start their campaign in California tomorrow night.