Canada secured their first ever World Cup victory, beating Qatar 6-0 and going top of Group B with four points after two games played.
Jesse Marsch’s side were dominant from the start, scoring after 16 minutes with Cyle Larin reacting first to a deflected shot, scoring his second goal for Canada at this World Cup.
Jonathan David added the second goal just 13 minutes later, before Qatar suffered a sending off in the 33rd minute, with Homam Al-Amin receiving his marching orders.
David added one more before the break, but with another red card in the 53rd minute, the second half saw another three goals, with Canada recording a 6-0 victory for their first ever in a World Cup.
In this article, we’ll cover
Wide overloads
Qatar initially setup in a 4-3-3/4-3-2-1 off the ball, looking to make it difficult for Canada to play through the centre of the pitch, blocking the half spaces and forcing Canada out wide.
Marsch’s side were set up in an asymmetric 3-2-5 on the ball, with Richie Laryea pushing into the half space behind Edmilson Junior, while Alistair Johnston operated on the outside of Akram Afif.
Canada then had a midfield pairing of Stephan Eustaquio and Ismael Kone, with a front two of Larin and David leading the line.
When working down the right, Canada found a lot of joy, with Johnston arriving off the shoulder of Afif to create 3v2 overloads, Kone drifting over to offer inside while Eustaquio sat in to screen the central defenders in case of transitions.
The added emphasis on the working the ball in wide areas, utilising these overloads and looking to get crosses into the box has been essential to Canada’s attacking play.
Both Jonathan David and Cyle Larin have profited from this, with two of their goals coming from these scenarios.
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Canada’s little & large strike partnership
David and Larin worked in tandem nicely as a pairing up top, scoring four of Canada’s six goals between them, taking 14 shots between them and playing a part in each others goals with deflected shots.
Many of their goals demonstrated brilliant box instincts, with Larin reacting quickest for the opener after a deflected strike from David on the half volley.
David then snapped on to a deflected shot from Tajon Buchanan, swivelling his body and composing himself to strike it on the volley, thundering it past Mahmud Abunada in goal.
The third goal once again saw the influence of the striker partners operating in the box, with Larin able to lurk towards the back post with David more central, winning the battle and forcing the keeper into a save, which dropped into the path of David who reacted quickest to prod it home…..
David’s third goal demonstrated brilliant reactions to take the shot from Nathan-Dylan Saliba under his spell, allowing him to finish with his second touch past the keeper.
Qatar continuous defensive shifts
As mentioned earlier, Qatar started off in a 4-3-3 shape, looking to use their wide central midfielders to block access to the pockets or come over to support the full-back in 1v2 situations when the full-backs advanced to provide double width.
With the aggressive nature of both full-backs to get forward, one of Qatar’s midfielders would often have to drop in and create a temporary back five, as they started to sink deeper and struggled to get out against Canada’s counterpress.
Qatar had already been pushed extremely deep with Canada in control of the game, but after their first red card, Qatar shifted into a 5-4-0 shape off the ball, giving them no outlet and even easier for Canada to sustain pressure against 10-men.
After the second red card in the 53rd minute, Qatar had to set up in a 5-3-0 off the ball, once again weakening their defensive shape and making it difficult for them to keep Canada out.
Nathan-Dylan Saliba
It was in unfortunate circumstances that Saliba entered the fray for Canada for the first time, as Ismael Kone was stretchered off with a broken leg.
But the 22-year-old midfielder, currently learning his trade in Belgium playing for Anderlecht, came on and showed why he could be one to watch going forward.
Saliba made an instant impact, coming on in the 57th minute and scoring his first ever World Cup goal in the 64th minute, cleverly curling it round the wall and in off the post into the bottom right corner.
Eustaquio was brilliant in midfield too, having 113 touches, completing 87/94 passes, completing eight progressive carries and winning four out of four ground duels, making three recoveries.
So Saliba and Eustaquio could be the starting pair in midfield for Canada’s third and final group game, giving the 22-year-old a great opportunity to impress playing alongside his experienced captain.
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