Canada vs Qatar Match Preview | OneFootball

Co-hosts Canada are looking for their first win of the 2026 World Cup as they take on Qatar in their second match of Group B.

Previous Matches

The Canadians opened their World Cup finals account with a point against Bosnia and Herzegovina, after Cyle Larin’s second half equalizer cancelled out Jovo Lukic’s early opener for the Bosnians.

Qatar secured their first ever World Cup point after Qatari captain Boualem Khoukhi appeared to head in the equalizer in the 94th minute. However, later review showed that it was Swiss defender Miro Muheim who inadvertently scored an own goal.

Canada Outlook

Jesse Marsch will be hoping he can lead Les Rouges to their first ever finals victory against the hosts of the 2022 edition, and he will be buoyed by the return of Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies, who has been sidelined through various long-term ailments, including an ACL injury in March 2025.

This is Canada’s third appearance at a men’s World Cup. Their previous outings were in 1986 and 2022, with both occasions ending with them heading home after the group stages having lost all three of their group stage games. That draw with Bosnia gave the host nation their first ever point, and they will be looking for more.

Happily, the city of Vancouver has been kind to their occupants in recent times. Canada have won their last four matches played there, scoring 17 goals while conceding only two. The last team to beat them there were Mexico in a March 2016 World Cup qualifier.

Qatar Outlook

This is Qatar’s second appearance at a finals. But this time they have former Spain and Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui at the helm. He took over the side after they secured qualification for the tournament. During their time as hosts of the 2022 edition, Qatar became the first host nation in history to lose all three of their group stage games.

Akram Afif of Al Sadd is Qatar’s crown jewel, with the 29-year-old set to make his 130th appearance for his nation against Canada.

Afif’s flair and creativity is well-known across the world, and he will be hungry to add to his 40 goals for his country. Against the Swiss, Lopetegui left record goalscorer Almoez Ali on the bench. Undoubtedly, Ali will be hoping for some playing time and looking to add to his 55 goals for his country.

However the statistics are not pleasant reading for Qatar, who ranked bottom of sides in Group B on match day one for shots (6), possession (32%), forward passes (118), touches in the opposition box (8) and successful final-third passes (24).

Meanwhile, the 26 shots that they faced were only six fewer than they allowed across their three group games on home soil in the 2022 World Cup combined (32).

Takeaway & Match Details

Victory for either side will all but confirm their place in the Round of 32 of the newly expanded competition. Given their history, this would be a venture into the unknown for either.

Kickoff: Thursday, June 18 @ 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PTWhere: BC Place, Vancouver, Canada