Canada 6-0 Qatar: Historic first World Cup win puts co-hosts on brink of knockouts | OneFootball

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Canada thrashed nine-man Qatar 6-0 in Vancouver, picking up a first-ever World Cup win, all but securing their spot in the knockout stages in the process.

The co-hosts flew out of the traps with three first-half goals from Cyle Larin and a brace from Jonathan David as they blew Qatar away early on.

Qatar received two red cards, one in the first half and one in the second for a nasty tackle that appeared to break Ismael Kone’s leg as they failed to cope with the speed and the intensity that the Canadians played with.

The co-hosts added three another goals in the second half as they broke the record for the most goals scored in a World Cup game by a CONCACAF nation, with Jonathan David grabbing a famous hat-trick to go top of Group B in Vancouver with one group game remaining.

As it happened

Qatar started at a rapid pace and created the game’s first big chance within the opening minute. Homam Al-Amin whipped in a delightful cross towards the back post, finding Edmilson Junior who couldn’t sort his feet out and sliced a volley wide.

After the early scare, Canada quickly worked their way back into the game, and had a good opportunity of their own early on. From the second-phase of a corner, Ali Ahmed delivered a great cross of his own, finding Jonathan David free at the back post, and his volley was well saved by Mahmoud Abunada in the Qatar goal.

Canada continued to press forward, and with 16 minutes on the clock, the BC Place stadium erupted as the co-hosts found an opening goal.

Alistair Johnston did brilliantly to create space for the cross on the right, before clipping a lovely ball into the box. Again David found himself free, firing straight at the goalkeeper who let the ball spill, and on hand was man of the hour Larin for a second time.

With the Southampton striker scoring his second goal of the tournament, he becomes the highest scoring Canadian men’s player in World Cup history.

The Canadians did not stop there though as they continued to put pressure on the Qataris. That pressure paid off just before the half-hour mark as they doubled their lead.

Tajon Buchanan’s long-range effort was blocked, riccocheting into the air which David met perfectly, unleashing a volley past Abunada into the near post, with Canada’s strike partnership doing the goods.

Just two minutes later they were at it again as Buchanan raced through on goal, before being brought down by Al-Amin.

Initially, the referee pointed to the spot, but after review, the decision was changed to a free-kick with the incident happening outside the box, and Al-Amin being shown a straight red card for the offence. Within the space of a few minutes, Qatar had fallen apart and seen the game taken away from them completely.

With Qatar down to ten, Canada very nearly quickly added a third on a couple of occasions, as Qatar cleared a couple of efforts off the line. The Canadian players and fans clearly smelt blood as they aimed to send out a strong message to the teams in their group and throughout the rest of the competition.

They managed to find the third goal before the break and it was David again scoring his second of the game. It came from more brilliant work down the right by Buchanan and Johnston, whose cross found the head of Larin.

His header was well kept out, but again a Canadian player was first to react as David was able to bundle the ball over the line.

The second half started in devastating circumstances as Ismael Koné appeared to suffer a serious injury, with Assim Madibo being shown a straight red card for the challenge as Qatar went down to nine-men.

Canada added a fourth just after the hour mark with a wonderful free-kick. Nathan-Dylan Saliba, who came on for the injured Koné, curled a brilliant strike around the wall in off the post.

The goals kept coming for the co-hosts as Jacob Shaffelburg fired an effort towards goal, which Mohamed Almanai misjudged, diverting the ball into his own net as things went from bad to worse for Qatar.

In the first of nine additional minutes, David scored his third goal of the game, completing a memorable hat-trick in front of a packed-out home crowd in Vancouver.

Saliba’s effort was deflected straight into the path of the Juventus striker, who had the goal at his mercy and made no mistake.

It ended 6-0 to Canada, a result which not even the most delusional of Canadian fans would have dreamt of today.

Canada Analysis: An almost perfect night for Jesse Marsch

The co-hosts started this game in the exact way you would expect a home nation to do. Especially a home nation managed by Jesse Marsch. After surviving an early scare, they began to pile pressure onto the Qataris, who just could not deal with the speed, nor the intensity of the Canadians.

Once they got the opening goal, you could see the confidence growing within the players and the crowd, as they went on to blow the Middle-Eastern side away.

The strike partnership of Cyle Larin and Jonathan David is widely regarded by Canadians as the greatest partnership in the nation’s history. And while the duo will get the headlines with the goals, the combination down the right between Tajon Buchanan and Alistair Johnston caused Qatar endless problems.

Buchanan caused the Qatari left-back endless problems, before eventually causing Homam Al-Amin to be sent off. But after the red card the Villarreal winger did not stop taking on and beating his man, seemingly making something happen every time he received the ball.

And Alistair Johnston behind him was picking the ball up in great areas, making great underlapping runs, and delivering excellent crosses into the box throughout the 90 minutes.

Jesse Marsch will be delighted that his players were able to put on a five-star showing for the Canadian fans, who were outstanding both in the stadium and around the rest of the country. They now find themselves on four points, and all but guaranteed a place in the knockout stages of the World Cup.

The only negative for Canada will be the injury to Ismael Koné, who suffered a serious injury which will likely keep him out for the remainder of the tournament and beyond.

The incentives keep coming for the co-hosts though, as they will know that if they can top the group, they will have a home tie in the Round of 32. And if today’s game was anything to go by, that would prove to be an incredibly tough game for any team in the competition.