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RAYYAN, Qatar — Canada will leave the World Cup later this week without advancing to the knockout stages, having lost their first two games against fancied opposition, including a 4-1 decision against the finalist 2018, Croatia Sunday. Because of this, there is a big disappointment.
But the Canadians will take home a cherished prize (the first World Cup goal in the men’s program’s 98-year history) and the knowledge that they played ambitious soccer. Four days after scaring second-placed Belgium, they edged past Croatia after just 67 seconds, the fastest goal of the tournament.
“We weren’t afraid of anyone,” said defender Steven Vitória. “We kept moving forward, trying to play this attacking style. We’re proud of that. We’ll keep working to close gaps and test the best teams in the world. This is where we want to take our country.”
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In this World Cup, Canada has earned points in style, if not actual points, in their first appearance since their tournament debut in 1986. Defensively, however, they couldn’t hold off Croatia, who scored eight minutes apart before the break and added two World Cup goals. the second half to move into first place with surprising Morocco.
Group F favorites Belgium have three points after losing 2-0 to Morocco earlier on Sunday. Group F concludes on Thursday with Morocco against Canada and Croatia against Belgium. Two will go to the round of 16.
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No matter how they fare in the final, the Canadians “left a positive image of what we want for the future,” Vitória said.
The future will undoubtedly continue to count with Alphonso Davies, a former refugee from West Africa who has become a world star at Bayern Munich. The 22-year-old winger made Canadian history on Sunday with the first goal.
“Knowing that people from east to west were celebrating somewhere,” coach John Herdman said, “was a great moment. We got to celebrate something that we’ve been waiting for a long time.”
The good roll didn’t last long. Andrej Kramaric scored the first of his two goals, and Marko Livaja broke the deadlock.
The Croatians said they were encouraged by Herdman, who used an expletive during a TV interview after the 1-0 defeat by Belgium to describe what his team would do to Croatia. The Croatian media noticed it in the preparation of this match.
“I want to thank Canada’s coach for the motivation,” Kramaric said through an interpreter. “I could have chosen different words. I could have phrased it differently. In the end, Croatia showed who finished with whom.”
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic, architect of the improbable 2018 run in Russia, exchanged greetings with Herdman before the match. Afterwards, however, they did not cross paths.
“This is his way of doing things,” Dalic said. “Obviously he was mad. He’s a top-quality professional, but he’s going to need time to learn some things.”
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Canada was doing all the talking at the start. The scoring spree began with a long clearance from goalkeeper Milan Borjan, and within seconds, the ball was in the net.
Cyle Larin connected with Tajon Buchanan on the right wing. Drifting into the box, Jonathan David took out centre-back Dejan Lovren with him, who created a cozy channel. Davies accepted the invitation.
After starting his career from a deep position, he made his decisive move. Josip Juranovic didn’t see Davies coming and had no chance of winning Buchanan’s high cross. Davies fired over for a 10-yard header.
The Khilafa International Stadium turned into a festival of red-clad Canadian revelers.
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In the 1986 tournament debut, Canada lost all three games by a combined score of 5–0. In the decades that followed, it stumbled again and again in the qualifying phase of Concacaf. Earlier this year, the drought ended after finishing first, ahead of regional powerhouses Mexico and the United States.
On Sunday, Canada kept up the pressure, teasing their fans with quick forays and impressing neutral fans with advanced style. Before long, though, Croatia figured out how to contain Davies.
The pace was too fast and the game too open to stay 1-0.
In the 36th minute, Ivan Perisic calmly slipped the ball past Kramaric into the corner of the six-yard box for a low effort into the far corner.
Croatia continued to take advantage of Canada’s open space and tepid defense. In the 44th minute, Juranovic took flight from midfield, beat the elegant Davies and turned into the centre. The Canadians closed, but after losing control, Juranovic played the ball between Vitória’s legs to Livaja, who powered a low shot from the top of the box.
Canada’s hopes were extinguished in the 70th minute when Kramaric left-footed from 14 yards out. Lovro Majer added a goal in stoppage time.
“Each and every player that’s been on the field, from the first game to this one, they’ve played with the right mindset and they’ve played fearlessly, they’ve played bravely,” Canadian captain Atiba Hutchinson said. “But of course, we were playing on a world stage with a lot of quality [on the other teams]. There are things we will have to learn. We didn’t get the result we wanted. But we will learn from this. And we will keep getting better.”
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USMNT: The United States faced England in their second game of the World Cup on Friday. The game ended in a 0-0 draw, leaving the U.S. feeling good about their performance, but also leaving Group B very uneasy heading into Tuesday’s final.
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