Jonathan David‘s hat trick propelled Canada to a historic 6-0 rout of Qatar in Vancouver on Thursday to go top of their World Cup group.
It was not only Canada’s first-ever victory at a World Cup but equaled the record margin of victory for a tournament host, matching the the six-goal wins for Italy in 1934, Brazil in 1950 and Argentina in 1978.
Canada’s tally against Qatar also doubled the number of goals they had in their entire World Cup history coming into the game.
A dream occasion for Canadian soccer was only marred by what appeared to be a serious injury suffered by midfielder Ismaël Koné in the second half.
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Koné received treatment for several minutes before being stretchered off following a hard foul by Qatar’s Assim Madibo. Madibo was shown a red card as Qatar finished with nine men following a first-half red card for Homam Ahmed.
The win takes Canada up to four points, ahead of Switzerland on goal difference, and all but secures their place in the knockout stage ahead of their final group game against the Swiss in Vancouver on Wednesday.
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney attended the match after missing the team’s opener in Toronto last week because of the G7 summit in France. He sat with FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Cyle Larin scored his second goal of the tournament on a rebound in the 16th minute. Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada punched away David’s volley but it fell to Larin, who pointed to his ears in celebration as the red-clad crowd roared.
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David doubled the lead with a right-footed volley in the 29th, for his first goal in the run of play in more than a year.
Ahmed was sent off with a red card in the 33rd. The official initially pointed to the penalty spot, but after video review Canada was given a free kick just outside the box and the initial yellow card handed to Ahmed was changed to red.
Canada made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time when David scored in a scramble in front of the net off a shot that caromed off the crossbar. Qatari players stood with their hands on their hips in frustration while Canada celebrated.
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Canada’s players surrounded Koné in concern when he suffered the scary-looking injury early in the second half, and Madibo was clearly distraught before he was ejected.
Nathan Saliba, who came in as a substitute for Koné, scored on a free kick in the 64th to make it 4-0. Mohamed Manai deflected a shot past his goalkeeper for an own goal in the 75th.
David completed the hat trick in stoppage time, joining Argentina’s Lionel Messi as the only players with three goals in a match in this World Cup.
Canada captain Alphonso Davies was available after he missed the opener while recovering from a hamstring injury. Moïse Bombito was also available after missing Canada’s opening World Cup match, a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday in Toronto. Neither Davies or Bombito played.
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Qatar scored a stoppage-time goal to earn a surprising 1-1 draw with Group B favorites Switzerland in their opener. The Persian Gulf country was still looking for their first World Cup win after losing all of their group matches four years ago as the hosts.
Switzerland defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-1 earlier in the day in Group B.
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
