Canada beat nine-man Qatar 6-0 at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver on Thursday to claim their first World Cup victory, with Jonathan David scoring a hat-trick.
The co-hosts had lost all six of their previous World Cup matches across the 1986 and 2022 finals. Jesse Marsch’s side ended that run with goals from David, Cyle Larin and Nathan Saliba, plus a Mohammad Manai own goal.
The win left Canada level with Switzerland on four points at the top of Group B. Canada holds the edge on goal difference and needs only a draw against Switzerland in Vancouver on June 24 to finish first.
Qatar finished with nine players after Homam el-Amin received a first-half red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity. Assim, Madibo was later sent off after his yellow card for a challenge on Ismael Kone was upgraded to a red card.
Kone left the field on a stretcher in the 51st minute after suffering a serious left leg injury. Marsch said the midfielder was in the hospital with a suspected broken leg and was preparing for surgery.
“It was right in front of us, and everyone could hear the bone snap,” Marsch said after the match. “Everybody’s a little shaken by the whole experience.”
Switzerland also revived their Group B campaign with a 4-1 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Johan Manzambi scored twice, while Ruben Vargas and Granit Xhaka added late goals.
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In Group A, South Africa drew 1-1 with the Czech Republic in Atlanta. Teboho Mokoena’s penalty cancelled out Michal Sadilek’s opener.
Mexico became the first team to reach the knockout rounds after beating South Korea 1-0 in Guadalajara. The result moved Mexico to five points in Group A.
