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Ismael Kone suffered a serious injury as Canada recorded the first men’s World Cup win in their history.
That injury overshadowed an otherwise positive match for the co-hosts who ran out 6-0 victors in Group B. As he was leaving the pitch on a stretcher, Kone put his thumb up to the crowd inside BC Place.
Jonathan David was the star for Canada, scoring his first World Cup hat-trick to go level with Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot. Cyle Larin and Nathan Saliba also scored, while the co-hosts' fifth goal went down as a Mohamed Manai own goal.
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Canada’s Ismaël Koné suffers apparent serious left leg injury in World Cup game
Six days to wait for the four teams in Group B to play again when the final standings are decided.
These are the fixtures:
Wednesday, June 24 (3pm ET)
I can't help but get ahead of myself after the result Canada just had today at the World Cup.
According to The Athletic's projection model, Canada are the most likely to win Group B at 63 percent. That means a home round of 32 match in Vancouver at BC Place.
Canada's projected opponent? Currently its Egypt at 22 percent.
What a scene that would be. Mohamed Salah at BC Place for Egypt. Canada trying to advance to a round of 16 for the first time at the World Cup.
Okay I'm done dreaming now. A lot more football to play in the group stage to see what happens!
When the World Cup is all said and done, this will be one of the lasting photos of the tournament.
Nathan Saliba, after scoring, raises the jersey of Ismael Kone to the crowd at BC Place. What a rousing moment to support his injured teammate!
It's fitting that Canada won its first match in front of Christine Sinclair, the all-time leader in international goals.
The Canada women’s national team had their moment at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics winning the gold medal after a penalty shootout.
Disappointment and under achieving have often defined the Canada men’s national team. Canada supporters still recall that 8-1 thrashing to Honduras.
But those bad memories can now fade. Now Canada has its first World Cup win, likely headed for their knockout-stage debut.
Until the next match, this is the biggest result in their history.
Jacob Shaffelburg is from Kentville, Nova Scotia. A town with a population of a little over 6,000.
Shaffelburg got the nickname "Maritime Messi" after he scored in the Copa America quarterfinals against Venezuela. There were worries whether Shaffelburg would make the World Cup roster after being sidelined for months earlier this year following groin surgery.
But tonight, Shaffelburg entered the World Cup spotlight, when his blazing shot was knocked in by a Qatari defender, extending Canada's lead. Shaffelburg's ability to raise his level in international tournaments continues to amaze.
What you are looking at that there is the average position of every Canada player being inside the opposing half of the pitch.
This isn't a bold prediction, but I am going to say that a team won't dominate a game like Jesse Marsch's men did today against Qatar.
Safe to say there were a lot of elated Canadians in the “Discuss” tab. From Vancouver, British Columbia to St. John’s, Newfoundland and all the cities in between this great country, the celebrations will last well into the night.
Here are a few reader thoughts on Canada‘s historic victory.
Race for the 2026 World Cup golden boot:
Eight other players tied on two goals.
Fun reading for Canadian fans.
Another visual representation of how badly Canada have just beaten Qatar.
Two shots for the visitors compared to 32 for the co-hosts.
I think it's safe to call it an absolute hammering.
Cyle Larin, who opened the scoring for Canada, spoke to TSN after the game:
💬 "People were saying we had a goalscoring problem. But this was a compete performance, we showed who Canada is today.
"We're just getting started. We did that for Kone.
"An injury like that hurts all the players, but we showed our character today.
"The job is not finished, the next game is so important, and we will all have Ismael in the back of our minds."
A word on Cyle Larin. He is one of the veterans on this Canada team. He's played almost 100 caps for country.
Coming into this tournament, he was struggling in the red and white. Not scoring in almost two years for country.
He scored Canada’s first goal at a World Cup and opened the scoring today en route to a historic victory.
Larin believed he deserved to start today after being a substitute against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Brampton, Ontario native delivered in a HUGE way!
You will rarely see a team dominate a World Cup match like Canada did today.
Qatar were dreadful and having two men sent off certainly didn't help their chances.
A famous 6-0 victory in a game dominated almost from minute one to the final whistle.
Canada Soccer House in Toronto is a PARTY.
The DJ is pumping up the crowd with Gasolina!
Canadian supporters don't want to leave and it's a dance party.
Canada centre-back Moise Bombito to TSN:
💬 “Ismael's injury is a big loss for us to be sure. He is an unbelievable human being, he will be missed a lot. We just have to make him proud.
“We will stay calm, focused and ready [for Switzerland game]. This game gave us a taste of how we can approach the next one.”
Jesse Marsch on TSN praises Canada’s performance in its first-ever World Cup win:
💬 “We wanted to play the kind of football that would electrify the crowd. Forty million Canadians will claim that they were here today.
“The best resource of this national team is the players, they embody everything great about this country.
“Coming here, my idea was to try and elevate them in every way. We saw that today.
“I'm so proud of these kids, and am so proud to be their coach.”
After a tough opening game for Jonathan David, that was the perfect way to respond.
A clinical hat-trick from the 26-year-old who has shot up the goalscoring charts and is now tied with Lionel Messi as the leader in the Golden Boot race.
He has instantly made himself a national hero.
Jonathan David is the first player from a host nation to a score a World Cup hat-trick since Geoff Hurst for England in the 1966 final.
Canada's six goals were the most ever scored in a FIFA World Cup match by a Concacaf nation, besting the four goals scored by Mexico (1970 vs. El Salvador) and the United States (2026 vs. Paraguay) and the most ever scored in a FIFA World Cup match by a nation from outside Europe or South America.
Canada coach Jesse Marsch speaks on Ismael Kone:
💬 “Ismael is such a great kid, he's imperfect but that is why we love him. He can do things that no other player can do. He embodies a lot of what this team is. He was our best player against Bosnia.
“He is a huge loss for us. Our hearts are with him, but that kid has a huge future.”
Team Stats
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