2026 World Cup: Canada crush Qatar 6-0 to claim a first-ever win, Jonathan David nets a hat trick
Forty years of waiting for a night like this. On Thursday in Vancouver, with BC Place rocking, Canada finally got their first World Cup win by hammering Qatar 6-0. It was an attacking onslaught in front of their own fans, against a Qatar side that finished with nine men after two red cards. The Canadian supporters erupted at the final whistle, while head coach Jesse Marsch wore his emotion on his sleeve throughout the lap of honour from the whole delegation. A landmark night for a nation that had never known victory in the competition since making its debut in 1986.
Cyle Larin got the party started in the 16th minute, after already scoring Canada’s first ever World Cup goal with the equaliser against Bosnia. Jonathan David, under fire after a flat opening display, answered in the best way possible: a hat trick in the 29th, 45th+3 and 90th+2 minutes. The substitutes got in on the act too, with Nathan Saliba curling home a direct free kick in the 64th minute and Al-Mannai putting through his own net after pressure from Jacob Shaffelburg in the 75th. A team performance to the last, on a night Vancouver will not forget in a hurry.
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The shadow of Kones injury hung over a night of celebration
The perfect evening still had one brutal interruption. Already rattled and overly physical, with the first red card shown in the 32nd minute, Qatar could not calm down after the restart. Assim Madibo was sent off as well in the 54th minute, and in the same action he left Ismael Kone injured. The sight of it sent a chill through the Sassuolo midfielder’s team-mates, who immediately gathered around him to shield him from the cameras. Taken off on a stretcher to a standing ovation, Kone has almost certainly played his last minutes of this World Cup.
Saliba’s celebration told you everything about the mood in the Canada camp. The midfielder first held up the number 8, Kone’s shirt number, before grabbing his team-mate’s jersey from the bench and lifting it to the crowd. In hearts and heads, this historic win will always be tied to a team-mate’s injury. A strange mix of joy and pain for a side that lived through an extraordinary night on every level.
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