Doha: Croatia recovered from an early goal to script an emphatic 4-1 win over Canada to go top of Group F in the FIFA World Cup.
On Sunday evening at the Khalifa International Stadium, Alphonso Davies needed only 68 seconds to write his name into history as Canada’s first goalscorer at a men’s World Cup to give his team the lead.
The Croatians fought back through Andrej Kramaric’s double (36 and 70 minute) besides goals from Marko Livaja (44) and Lovren Majer (94).
With Sunday’s win, Croatia moved to the top of Group F alongside surprise package Morocco and sent Canada crashing out of their second-ever World Cup, nearly four decades.
Morocco’s shock 2-0 win over Belgium earlier on Sunday, their first World Cup victory in 24 years and the Belgium’s first group-stage defeat since 1994, had given John Herdman’s Canada’s a glimmer of hope of qualifying for the knockout stage, which was further reinforced by the early goal.
But the early hopes of Canada vanished as the game progressed as the 2018 runners-up took full control of the proceedings to go into the half-time break leading 2-1.
In the last round matches of the group, Belgium, second in the world, will need to beat Croatia in their last game to avoid an early exit, while Morocco will be in the last 16 if they get a point against Canada.
After a blistering start from Canada it was then Croatia who went through the gears playing some composed football. They were brutal at times with the way they kept the ball and counter-attacked. They’ll be more than happy with their performance on Sunday. All credit to Croatia for the clinical finish.
(IANS)
