Canada dominated Qatar 6-0 en route to its first World Cup victory, led by Jonathan David’s hat trick. The victory marks the largest win by a CONCACAF nation in the history of the World Cup.
First half
After coming up big off the bench in the opening game, Cyle Larin continued his brilliance early, opening the scoring for Canada on a rebound in the box. Stephen Eustáquio sent a cross to Jonathan David, who got off a quality shot before Larin cleaned it up.
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Larin became the first North American player to score in consecutive World Cup matches since American Landon Donovan in 2010.
After a rough match in the opener where he missed multiple grade A opportunities, David didn’t take long to silence the doubters. Twelve minutes after the opening strike, he delivered a volley from the top of the box to give Canada a 2-0 lead.
It was the first career World Cup goal for David, an integral part of Jesse Marsch’s Canadian squad.
The dream first half for Canada didn’t end there, with David burying an airborne rebound in the 47th minute.
With the goal, David earned the first brace in World Cup history for Canada.
Heading into the second half, Canada needed a goal differential of four to match Switzerland heading into the final match, meaning the offense remained kept pressing forward to end the game.
Second half
A scary injury for Canada’s Ismaël Koné slowed the momentum of the game, but his squad was seemingly fueled by the injury.
Nathan Saliba drove home a perfect free kick into the right side of the net, just out of the reach of Mahmoud Abunada. After the goal, Saliba held up a Koné jersey to the crowd, prompting a thunderous reaction from the Vancouver fans.
Playing two men short, Qatar simply couldn’t contain the Canadian offense. Mohamed Manai forced an own goal in the 74th minute to make it 5-0.
David capped off the greatest day in Canadian soccer history with a hat trick goal, giving Canada a 6-0 lead. It marks the first CONCACAF hat trick at the World Cup since 1930.
Canada’s next game is against Switzerland Wednesday for a chance to win Group B with a tie or a win.
