Qatar 2022: Croatia Bounce From One Down To Oust Canada

Having led 1-0 from the second minute of play courtesy an Alphonso Davies goal, Croatia came from behind to win by a wide margin against Canada on Sunday in Doha (4-1).

The Canadians conceded a second defeat and have been eliminated from the 2022 World Cup.

Held to a zero-all tie in their first match against Morocco, Croatia had to make no mistake against Canada – as they would have ran out of lives in the competition.

The men of Zlatco Dalic won 4-1 in a match that had started badly with a second minute goal from Alphonso Davies, who became the first Canadian goal scorer in the history of the World Cup.

Shaken by an enterprising and creative Canadian team, the Croatians recovered after the hour mark, and managed to equalize in the 36th minute thanks to Andrej Kramaric’s strike. They pressed further and returned to the locker room with an advantage on the mark, as Marko Livaka added Croatia’s second at the 44th minute.

In the second half, Croatia’s dominance was rewarded by another goal from Kramaric, while Canada had their weakest spell in the game at the 70th minute.

Physically worn out from the hour mark, the Canucks failed to keep up the pace and fell heavily later in the game.

Lovro Majer who came in as a second half substitute sealed the score in added time (90 + 4).

On that note, Canada gulped down a second defeat. For their second World Cup (after that of 1986), the Canadians end again in the group stage and will play their last match against Morocco without any stake.

Morocco are second in the group, and only need to avoid defeat to ensure a Round of 16 qualification against Canada on the final day of play.

Croatia takes first place in Group F, but are not guaranteed to see the round of 16. They will face Belgium in the last game.