Canada 6-0 Qatar: World Cup 2026 – as it happened

At full strength, Canada can go toe-to-toe with any opponent in the Americas. After steady climbs up the Concacaf charts and a credible run to the 2024 Copa América semi-final, all hope was that a talented squad could find their stride at a home World Cup. That belief came to life on Thursday, as Jesse Marsch’s side played a dominant 6-0 win over Qatar before a crowd of 52,497 for the country’s first-ever victory at a men’s World Cup.

Jonathan David’s hat-trick led the celebration of the program’s progress over the past decade, marred only by a horror leg injury suffered by midfielder Ismaël Koné in the second half. We wanted to play the kind of football that would electrify the crowd. There’s gonna be 40 million Canadians who claim they were in the stadium today.

These 55,000 were lucky, and what a performance from our team. [On Ismael Kone’s injury] Look, Ismael is such a great kid. He’s so imperfect but that’s part of why you love him, right, because he can do great things – things that nobody else can do – and then the next moment he loses concentration for a second.

He really embodies a lot of what the team is; against Bosnia he was our best player. It’s a huge loss for us. He’ll be fine.

We’ll get him to the doctors, we’ll get him back. Obviously our heart is with him, but that kid’s got a big future and he’s a big part of everything we do. The players embody everything that is great about this country.

They’re incredibly kind, and generous, and giving to each other. But they’re also great players and great competitors. I’m so proud to be their coach, and we’re gonna keep going.

From one co-host to another There was a bit of aggro at the final whistle, with players from both camps getting involved. The two coaches also had words. We didn’t see much of it on British TV, and now they’ve gone to a hydration break an ad break.

An historic day for Canada, who have won their first game at a men’s World Cup and are almost certainly through to the knockout stage. Canada thrashed nine-man Qatar, with Juventus’s Jonathan David scoring an excellent hat-trick, but an horrific injury to Ismael Kone made it a bittersweet triumph. 90+8 min “It says something about how the Canadian players were affected by Kone’s injury that Jonathan David barely celebrated completing a hat trick at a home World Cup,” writes Kári Tulinius.

Yeah I forgot to mention that. It’s possibly the most sombre celebration of a World Cup hat-trick ever seen. 90+8 min A clipped cross from the right only just evades the leaping Larin at the near post.

90+7 min Canada are still pushing for more goals, which you don’t see very often in this situation. 90+4 min I need to double check but I think David is the first man to score a World Cup hat-trick for a host nation since Geoff Hurst in 1966. Pedro Cea (Uruguay 1930) Angelo Schiavio (Italy 1934) Ademir (Brazil 1950) Josef Hugi (Switzerland 1954) Geoff Hurst (England 1966) Jonathan David (Canada 2026) Nathan Saliba’s shot from 22 yards hit David, who was trying to move out of the way.

But David reacted superbly to ram the loose ball past Abunada with his left foot. Jonathan David has a World Cup hat-trick! 90 min Sigur’s shot from the edge of the D is blocked.

There will be nine minutes of added time. 87 min: Qatar substitution Lucas Mendes replaces Ahmed Fathy, who only came on at half-time. 85 min Larin has a shot blocked.

Canada could easily put their feet up but they are aggressively hunting a sixth goal. 83 min: Canada substitution Niko Sigur replaces the superb Tajon Buchanan. 82 min The indefatigable Johnston’s cross-shot is saved by Abumada, who has had quite a good game despite conceding five.

81 min We haven’t seen a replay of the Kone injury, for obvious reasons, but our picture desk have confirmed that it was a visibly horrible leg-break. 79 min The qualification permutations are infinite, but with four points and a +5 goal difference it’s hard to see a scenario whereby Canada don’t get through to the knockout stage. And as miserable as this has been for Qatar, a win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final game might be enough for them too.

78 min “Devastated by the Koné injury,” writes Mac Millings. “He was only at Vicarage Road for 18 months, but he always seemed to have a touch of class both on and off the field. ” You know it’s serious when Millings sends an unironic email.

77 min The goal has been given to Shaffelburg in the stadium, so perhaps his shot was on target. My instinct is that it was going just wide until Al-Mannai intervened. It’s five.

After another slick Canadian move on the right, Johnston drove a cross that was kicked away by the keeper. Buchanan’s follow-up was blocked, then the substitute Shaffelburg stretched to hook a volley towards the far corner. It was going just wide until Al-Mannai, who couldn’t be sure the ball was going wide and had to do something shinned it into his own net.

72 min: Double substitution for Canada Jacob Shaffelburg and Tani Oluwaseyi come on for Ali Ahmed and Luc De Fougerolles. 71 min “Well this has certainly taken the fun out of our first men’s team World Cup (potential) win,” writes Liz White. “I hope the guys’ hockey mentality is limited to goals, not injured teammates.

” 68 min Hydration break. Jesse Marsch looks almost tearful as he addresses his Canada team. It’s an historic day for them, but the horrible injury to Ismael Kone makes it hard to fully enjoy that.

65 min Apparently that’s the first goal to be scored from a direct free-kick at this World Cup. Lovely goal! Nathan Saliba, who came on for poor Ismael Kone, clips a sweet free-kick around the wall and into the net via the inside of the post.

He runs straight over to the touchline to receive a Kone 8 shirt and raise it to all four sides of the ground. Qatar’s wall wasn’t quite right – Saliba didn’t need to curl it that much – but it was still a fine goal. 62 min Fathy fouls Ali Ahmed just outside the area and is booked.

Given this match is over as a contest, there’s an unusually febrile mood. 59 min: Qatar substitution Akram Afif is replaced by another defender, Hashmi Hussein. 56 min: Canada substitution Ismael Kone is stretchered off to be replaced by Nathan Saliba.

He’s sitting up and waving to the fans as he is taken down the tunnel, which is both unexpected and uplifting. 55 min There’s a lot of pushing and shoving on the sidelines. It sounds like the referee upgraded the red card of his own accord, without VAR intervention, though I’m not certain about that.

It’s been upgraded to a red card. We haven’t seen a replay of the challenge, presumably because the leg-break is so horrible. 52 min Madibo is booked for the challenge, which looked appropriate at first glance despite the awful outcome.

A number of the Canada players are angry, while the non-playing members of the team are forming a circle around Kone so that he can’t be filmed. Kone is caught late by Madibo, falls over and then looks at his leg in horror. His reaction, and that of the other Canada players, suggests he’s suffered an extremely serious injury.

51 min There was a VAR check for a potential handball during that scramble, but nothing is given. 50 min No sign of Canada resting on their laurels. Larin has a shot blocked desperately after a scramble in the area.

46 min A few substitutions at half-time Canada Moise Bombito for Derek Cornelius. Qatar Ahmed Fathy and Mohamed Al-Mannai for Edmilson Jr. and Jassem Gaber.

” asks Mac Millings. ” You’ve left yourself down by not mentioning Steve Sims. ” Half-time reading “That third goal was such an ice hockey goal,” says Eddy Nason.

“Crash the keeper and pick a rebound. ” I’ve now got Swingers on the brain. Capital S.

] Canada’s players are roared off at the break. This is what their coach Jesse Marsch said before the game: We need a presence in the box; it’s a game where both Cyle [Larin] and Jonny [David] can find goals if they’re aggressive and ready for moments. They were, they did.

Larin scored the first, David the next two, and Qatar were reduced to ten when Homam Ahmed was sent off for dogsoing Tajon Buchanan. 45+5 min Johnston slams a cross-shot on the turn that is pushed away by Abunada. The right-back Johnston swung a cross towards the far post, where Larin dismissed a the challenge of Alawai and powered a header towards goal.

Abunada made a superb reaction save but could only claw the ball out in front of goal. David got to the loose ball first and poked a volley into the open net. Canada are romping to their first ever win at a men’s World Cup.

45+2 min An angled cross is nodded back across by Buchanan and headed away superbly by Edmilson Jr (I think). 45+1 min Six minutes of added time. 45 min Check complete, no penalty.

Cornelius was pulling back his leg to shoot and made contact with Gaber, who knew nothing about it. That type of incident often leads to a penalty but ultimately Gaber did nothing wrong. 44 min Cornelius goes flying in the area.

No penalty but it’ll be checked by VAR. 41 min: Qatar substitution Sultan Al-Brake, a full-back, replaces the striker Yusuf Abdurisag. 40 min “No way was that a foul,” writes Paul Cockburn of the Homam Ahmed red card.

” I don’t disagree, but just out of interest: have you watched any football in the last 20 years? Laryea gets to the byline in the area and slides the ball across the six-yard box. It reaches Buchanan, whose off-balance shot is blocked on the line by Afif.

37 min Canada have been excellent and it’s hard to see any scenario in which they don’t win this game. Then again, we said the same at White Hart Lane on 4 February 2004. Replays show the contact was fractionally outside the area, so the penalty is chalked off – but Homam Ahmed is dogsoed as a result.

No penalty = no goalscoring opportunity = a red card for denying one. Buchanan gets behind the defence and is bundled over by Homam Ahmed. He is booked.

It might have been a red card because he wasn’t trying to play the ball, but there’s also an argument that it wasn’t a foul. Canada are on course for their first World Cup win – and with it, almost certainly, a place in the knockout stage. Tajon Buchanan’s low shot from distance was blocked, with the ball spinning towards Jonathan David 12 yarsd from goal.

He reacted beautifully to judge the flight of the ball and then snap a volley past Abumada at the near post. Ordinarily you’d criticise a keeper for being beaten at the near post but that was so well struck by David. Canada are in the process of making history!

24 min Time for a hydration break. And did you know that water is a healthy and cheap choice to keep you hydrated, but other drinks can also count towards your fluid intake. We also get some fluids from the foods we eat.

Not getting enough fluids can lead to dehydration. Dehydration means your body loses more fluids than you take in. If it’s not treated, it can get worse and become a serious problem.

Also, a 30-second advert during these breaks is reportedly worth hundreds of thousands to Fox. 23 min “Wales didn’t just “make it to the knockouts” in 1958,” says Matt Dony, who should know because he was there. “They were probably one John Charles injury away from eliminating Brazil.

After being kicked around the park by Hungary in the previous game, Charles was unfit to face Brazil. Even Pele has since said that, had Charles played, Wales would likely have won. Still, there was always 2022.

And at this rate, we’ll have another crack at World Cup glory in 2086…” John Charles was a giant of a player, but I still think Brazil would have won 1-0 in the counterfactual quarter-final. 21 min Ali Ahmed’s free-kick from the right is headed wide by Cornelius. It was no sort of chance, with loads of players jumping for the ball at the same time.

One of them, Qatar centre-half Boualem Khoukhi, has stayed down holding his face. I think Cornelius accidentally headed him on the side of the face after making contact with the ball. 19 min Most of Canada’s best attacks have come down the right through Johnston and Buchanan.

They win another corner on that side, but nothing comes of it this time. Edmilson Jr. tried to dribble out of trouble but was pressed by David and conceded a corner.

When Ali Ahmed’s corner was half cleared, Johnston scurried to the byline on the right and clipped a good cross towards the unmarked David 12 yards out. His stinging shot was spilled by Abunada and Larin gobbled up the rebound. It’s second goal of the tournament, and he’s only played about half an hour.

Check the decibel levels: Cyle Larin has put Canada in front! 13 min It’s been a bright start to the game. Canada are dominating possession, as expected, but Qatar look sharp and purposeful on the break.

9 min Cornelius is booked for a foul on the lively Akram Afif. 8 min Zach Neeley’s email begins with the oldest opening line in the book. Speaking of the 1958 group stage, England drew 0-0 with Brazil, which was the first scoreless draw in World Cup history.

Lucky sods back then didn’t know how good they had it. Not bad for England against the first team to win outside of their own continent (which I believed held up till 2010) and didn’t give up a goal until the semi-finals. Wales and Northern Ireland made it to the knock outs while England didn’t after losing a tiebreakeragainst the Soviet Union (no goal difference, 2nd and 3rd played each other if on equal points).

Northern Ireland also needed a playoff to get through, which meant the quarter-final against France was their third game in five days. No wonder they were plugged 4-0. 7 min Ali Ahmed’s corner from the right is headed away, but he collects the loose ball and curls a good cross beyond the far post.

The unmarked David meets it with a technically excellent volley that is pushed away by Abunada, diving to his right. Lovely effort, though Abunada would expect to save that 39 times out of 40. 4 min Canada appeal for a penalty – for anything – when Laryea is bundled over on the edge of the area.

The referee doesn’t think it was a foul, in or outside the box. 3 min “I found myself in Paris for the Croatia game in 2018, with some Japanese colleagues who seemed somewhat confused by my total lack of interest in conversation once the game started,” writes Tom Hopkins. “I did, however, find myself sat next to a lovely Croatian couple and we were sympathetic to each other as fortunes ebbed and flowed.

“In the fullness of time, actually quite a happy memory. At the time, not so much. Kane should have passed to Sterling.

It’s sometimes forgotten that, though Croatia were undoubtedly the better team, England could have put them away before half-time. I was in Perth for work, so the match started at 2am I think. I wasn’t exactly the poster boy for productivity the following day.

Well, the same day; you know what I mean. 1 min A quarter-chance for Qatar after 41 seconds. Akram Arif’s dummy allows Homam Ahmed to surge into space on the left and curl an inviting cross beyond the far post.

It arrives at a slightly awkward height for Edmilson Jr, who can’t quite adjust his body in time and slices a volley well wide. Lovely move, though. 1 min Peep peep!

Canada kick off from left to right as we watch. “Afternoon Rob from Ottawa (our sleepy capital),” writes Eddy Nason. “There’s even a big screen showing this game at my daughter’s school BBQ so people here must be into this!

” We feel that Cyle [Larin] is a good match-up for this game. We need a presence in the box; it’s a game where both Cyle and Jonny [David] can both find goals if they’re aggressive and ready for moments. [On how long the returning Ali Ahmed might last] We’ll check in at half-time and see where’s at.

He’s a naturally fit guy – we’ll evaluate at 45 and then again at 60. JS, the president of the Voyageurs, sent me a video that I saw a few minutes ago and looks like there’s about 70 million people marching to the stadium! We’re excited, we want to make sure we put on a performance that is very Canadian: it’s about fighting, it’s about working for each other and bringing the crowd into the game.

We want to make sure we’re on the front foot, that we’re the aggressor and we go after the game at every moment. “There’s no point in beating a dead horse,” says Rebekah Voss, gawping at a dead horse, “but I can’t stop thinking about yesterday’s England match. See, back in 2018, I was 13 years old and sent to summer camp in the middle of nowhere.

One of our counsellors was an unlucky sod from England who was crazy into the World Cup and was more than happy to explain to the kids how the sport worked and that England was obviously the best team ever. He got us all hooked. “Then one fateful day he comes tearing across the lawn when we‘re off to disc golf and screams ENGLAND SCORED!

WE ARE GOING TO WIN! That game was, of course, the semi-final versus Croatia. We watched how everything went downhill.

It was my first-ever heartbreak. I saw the first half yesterday and thought, it’s going to happen again. I am so pleased that it didn’t.

” I was thinking about that game the other day, specifically how a hydration break might have changed it. England were getting overrun in midfield before Ivan Perisic equalised in the 68th minute, so maybe an ad break would have slowed Croatia’s momentum. I’m loath to say it would have given England the chance to stiffen their midfield because Gareth Southgate was quite passive at that stage of his career.

Reintroducing Qatar’s star man The hype around Johan Manzambi will only heighten after his star turn from the substitutes’ bench helped Switzerland out of a hole and get their tournament truly up and running. The 20-year-old managed to excel for Freiburg in their comprehensive Europa League final defeat against Aston Villa last month and, with 73 minutes played here and three minutes after entering as part of a triple substitution, his superb volley put an end to a sterile contest, hooking a right-foot shot into the Bosnia and Herzegovina net. At that point Switzerland had registered eight shots, three on target, but things unravelled in the final third.

It was, of course, a similar story in their opener against Qatar, when they finished with 26 shots but had to settle for a draw. Manzambi scored twice here, his second finish understated but sumptuous, before Ermin Mahmic thumped in an unstoppable volley in stoppage time, the ball clocked at 71mph according to the wraparound LED screen. Switzerland’s captain, Granit Xhaka, capped the scoring from the penalty spot after Amar Memic tripped Djibril Sow.

Switzerland have several toes in the knockout stage after overwhelming Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last 20 minutes in LA. Freiburg’s Johan Manzambi, aged 20, came off the bench to score twice. Canada’s head coach Jesse Marsch makes two changes.

Cyle Larin, who came off the bench to equalise against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ali Ahmed come in for Liam Millar and Tani Oluwaseyi. Alphonso Davies is among the substitutes. Qatar are unchanged.

Canada (4-4-2) Crepeau; Johnston, De Fougerolles, Cornelius, Laryea; Buchanan, Kone, Eustaquio, Ahmed; J David, Larin. Subs: St Clair, Goodman, Waterman, Bombito, Davies, Sigur, Choiniere, Millar, Shaffelburg, Osorio, Saliba, Oluwaseyi, P David, Nelson. Qatar (4-2-3-1) Abunada; Alawi, Miguel, Khoukhi, Ahmed; Laye, Gaber; Edmilson Junior, Madibo, Afif; Abdurisag.

Subs: Zakaria, Barsham, Mendes, Al-Brake, Hussein, Hatem, Boudiaf, Al-Ganehi, Fathy, Alaaeldin, Muntari, Al-Haydos, Ali, Jamshid, Al-Mannai. Referee Cristian Garay (Chile) It’s no longer goalless in the match between Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Daniel Gallan has more.

Daichi Kamada’s late equaliser for Japan against the Netherlands on Sunday did not merely mean that the scoreline more accurately reflected the game. It also extended to four the unbeaten run of teams from the Asian confederation against Europe at this tournament. There is a degree of contingency to that record, and nobody should draw definitive conclusions from the first week of a World Cup, but equally if there were a shift in the power dynamics of world football, it might look a bit like this.

The tone was set on day one with South Korea’s victory over Czech Republic. It perhaps shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anybody who saw their qualifying playoff semi-final against Ireland that the Czechs would be so ponderous and lumbering, a side that understood the value of dead balls and long throws and little else. But still, the ease with which South Korea passed their way around them was striking.

If Son Heung-min had been the player he was three or four years ago, the Korean victory would have been far more emphatic. With 20 minutes remaining, it’s still goalless in Los Ageless. Maybe we’re heading for a repeat of Group E at USA 94, when Norway finished bottom despite collecting the same points as the group winners Mexico.

Asked how he’s handling the scrutiny of coaching a World Cup co-host – where even apparently insignificant comments can end up in the headlines – Jesse Marsch was quick to flash a grin. “Maybe we’ll get through this one without creating news cycles,” Marsch quipped a day before his Canada team welcome Qatar to Vancouver for a pivotal Group B clash. The teams are level on one point each after the first round of games, leaving the group wide open.

Marsch and midfielder Ismaël Koné refused to look beyond Thursday’s match though. Koné pushed back against one reporter’s insinuation that the players are more anonymous in Vancouver than in Toronto, the site of their draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week. But training in British Columbia since Monday has allowed Marsch and his men to ease the pressure of being co-hosts.

“The bigger the event, there’s going to be more distractions,” Marsch said, “so we’ve tried to minimize that. ” Switzerland v Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other match in this group, is goalless at half-time. You can follow the second half with Daniel Gallan.

The Group B story so far Canada 1-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina Qatar 1-1 Switzerland Who fancies a bit of history? Fear not, we’re not about to impose 5,000 words on the group stage of the 1958 World Cup upon you. We’re talking about making history, something Canada or Qatar could do in the next few hours.

They’ve already made a small bit of history by drawing their opening games, the first time either team had picked up a point at a men’s World Cup. Today they can achieve something more substantial. A win for either team would be their first at a World Cup – and, most importantly, would pretty much ensure qualification for the knockout stage.

Yes, yes, the knockout stage is the last 32, which before this tournament would have been the group stage, so what does it really mean. Never mind that legitimate but slightly joyless view. In the modern world we need every good-news story we can get; when this game gets going, the footballers of Canada and Qatar will have the chance to become immortal.

Kick off 3pm local time/6pm EDT/11pm BST/8am AEST Rob will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how Canada are preparing for today’s game: Asked how he’s handling the scrutiny of coaching a World Cup co-host – where even apparently insignificant comments can end up in the headlines – Jesse Marsch was quick to flash a grin. “Maybe we’ll get through this one without creating news cycles,” Marsch quipped a day before his Canada team welcome Qatar to Vancouver for a pivotal Group B clash.

The teams are level on one point each after the first round of games, leaving the group wide open. Marsch and midfielder Ismaël Koné refused to look beyond Thursday’s match though. Koné pushed back against one reporter’s insinuation that the players are more anonymous in Vancouver than in Toronto, the site of their draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week.

But training in British Columbia since Monday has allowed Marsch and his men to ease the pressure of being co-hosts. “The bigger the event, there’s going to be more distractions,” Marsch said, “so we’ve tried to minimize that.