Jonathan David hat trick leads Canada over Qatar for historic 1st win in men’s World Cup history

When in doubt, have no doubt. Go with your horses. Go with your heroes.

Canada’s men won the first World Cup match in their program’s history, demolishing Qatar 6-0 in front of a deafening BC Place crowd on a glorious Thursday afternoon.

Their first goal came in the 16th minute from Cyle Larin, the 31-year-old veteran who had earned the start after he’d scored as a substitute in last week’s draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Now he’d scored again, this one from close range after Jonathan David’s long volley rebounded off the chest of the helpless Qatari goalkeeper.

In a stadium that was dressed nearly entirely in red, the release, the relief, threatened to take off the roof.

David scored next, screaming home a volley from distance in the 29th minute. He was chased by his thrilled teammates into a corner of a suddenly historic ground and engulfed in what felt like a now-inevitable victory.

The result was no longer in question after Homam Ahmed took down Tajon Buchanan on a breakaway and Qatar was reduced to 10 men.

Larin’s and David’s shared place in Canadian soccer history was doubtless, too. They combined for a third goal before the end of a dream first half after David bundled home Larin’s saved header.  

Now David had 41 goals for Canada, extending his all-time men’s record. He first claimed it by breaking Larin’s former mark. Larin, still second on the all-time list, had 32.

The second half was seared into the side’s, and the country’s, collective memory for far less happy reasons.

Ismael Koné, Canada’s Man of the Match against Bosnia-Herzegovina and a creative force against Qatar, suffered an apparent broken leg when he was tackled from behind by Assim Madibo.

His red card left Qatar with nine men and the air rushing out of a stadium that had felt so full.

The sound of the break was audible in the upper reaches of an immediately silent BC Place. Koné held his left leg in the air, his eyes and mouth wide with shock. Stephen Eustaquio was the first to see how bad the damage was and waved frantically to the bench.

After Koné was wheeled away on a stretcher — after he received a long embrace from a devastated Marsch — he was replaced by a clearly distraught Nathan Saliba. Canada literally wrapped him up in their arms when he walked out onto the pitch, in something like shock himself.

Almost cinematically, Saliba then scored Canada’s fourth goal on an inch-perfect free kick. He ran to the touchline and lifted Kone’s black jersey, No. 8, up to the crowd, a heart-swelling response to such a brutal moment.

Jacob Shaffelburg later added the fifth.

David earned his hat trick, and the 42nd goal of his unbelievable national-team career, with the sixth.

Canada will have to rally again before its next game against Switzerland, also in Vancouver, on June 24. The lopsided result against Qatar almost certainly puts Canada through to the knockout rounds, but also leaves it the chance to win Group B with anything other than a loss against the Swiss. 

Their late domination of Bosnia-Herzegovina earlier in the day — a game that was scoreless with 16 minutes to play somehow finished 4-1 for Switzerland — seemed to leave Canada with only a distant chance of winning the group.

The first tiebreaker between teams tied on points after the group stage, beyond head-to-head results, is goals scored.

Canada’s sensational six gives it to them.

First place is a massive advantage. Group B’s winner, after a full week of rest, will face a third-place team in Vancouver in the Round of 32. The second-place finisher heads to Los Angeles to meet the second-place finisher in Group A after only three days off.

Marsch’s men will have to manage that all-important game, and the rest of their tournament, without Koné. There is a case to be made that he’s worst player for them to have lost. In any other game, given any other result, his tragedy would have been all that anyone remembered.

Now it’s up to his teammates to play for him rather than beside him, to fill the vacuum of his loss with another heroic win.