Canada Gives Belgium A Real Fright At World Cup Despite Loss

Alphonso Davies has penalty saved at Qatar 2022 versus Belgium

Summary

  • Canada made things difficult for Belgium in their opening game
  • Belgium eventually got the win with a 1-0 scoreline
  • Canada’s next game is against Croatia on 27 Nov

Canadian football fans weren’t expecting a lot from Canada who are one of the minnows at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Canada qualified for this World Cup after 36 years and were placed in Group F which is a tough group consisting of Belgium, Croatia and Morocco

Canada was supposed to face their toughest test in the group stage with their opening game against Belgium on Nov 23. Belgium holds the number two spot on FIFA’s world ranking list and have a number of world class players including Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne.

Canada Loses But Concedes Just One Goal

There were many who expected Belgium to thrash Canada in their opening game in a similar manner to the Spain vs. Costa Rica game. Spain dominated Costa Rica in what was a one sided match which Spain ended up winning by a 7-0 scoreline.

The opposite happened during the Canada vs. Belgium game as Canada came out firing from the start and played exceptional football till the end. This was a closely contested game which will give Canadian fans immense pride to see how well Canada played against a top team like Belgium. 

Belgium ended up winning the game 1-0 thanks a goal from Michy Batshuai who filled in for the injured Romelu Lukaku. Though it could have been a different game had Alphonso Davis, who was considered a risk before the game scored when given a penalty after Yannick Carrasco was seen by VAR to have handled the ball in the area. Instead Davis saw his effort saved by Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and handing Belgium the win overall. Despite this it was Canada who played the better football and looked more dangerous registering a total of 22 shots to Belgium’s 9.

Ball possession between the two sides was almost equal with Belgium having 54 percent to Canada’s 46 percent. Both sides were awarded 4 corners each, while the pass accuracy for Belgium stood at 83 percent while Canada had 82 percent.

Canada will be very pleased with their performance against Belgium even though they lost. Their performance will give them a confidence boost when they play their next game against Croatia. 

Canada vs. Croatia – Nov 27

Canada has another stiff challenge ahead of them in their second match when they face Croatia on Nov 27.

Croatia lost to France in the 2018 FIFA World Cup final and will be under pressure to win when they play Canada after they were held to a draw against Morocco in their opening game. Canada will fancy their chances against Croatia and will once again look to Alphonso Davies to work his magic.

Author Kaus is a freelance football writer, who prior to producing content for betting.ca, has written for Calciomercato, TheseFootballTimes, GetGermanFootball News and Manchester Evening News.