Canada was defeated 4-1 by Croatia on Sunday, and as a result, they are no longer in the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
Alphonso Davies scored Canada’s first goal in a men’s World Cup match with a spectacular leaping header in the second minute, but Croatia answered twice more before halftime with goals from Andrej Kramaric and Marko Livaja. For top sports betting offers check out our CasinoDaddy web pages!
Kramaric added a second goal with a well-placed strike after 70 minutes, and midfielder Lovro Majer added a fourth goal in stoppage time to eliminate Canada from the competition.
As a result of their two losses in their first two games, Canada now finds themselves in Group F without a point and four points behind equal group leaders Croatia and Morocco.
After failing to score in their sole previous participation in 1986, Canada flew out of the Khalifa International Stadium on Sunday with the quickest goal of the tournament thus far and their first World Cup goal.
Eventually, Taejon Buchanan received a long clearance from goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, who shaped a beautiful cross from the right into the box where Davies was approaching like an express train to rise high above his defender and head powerfully down into the net. The Canadians were clearly in control as they tore through the Croatian midfield, with Davies’s speed and cunning giving the Croatians nightmares. Make sure you take a look at 18bet because it’s amazing!
Although Croatia was significantly outplayed in the first half, they gradually found their stride. After 26 minutes, they had the ball in the net through Kramaric, but the linesman’s flag ended their celebrations, giving Canada a little reprieve.
In the 36th minute, Croatia equalized when Kramaric scored on a first-time effort into the far corner after Ivan Perisic, a developing force on the left, pushed the ball through to him. They seized the lead eight minutes later when Livaja, who had been passed by Mateo Kovacic, finished a superb build-up from the back by striking low and right with his right foot from the edge of the box.
To regain the initiative, Herdman made substitutions at halftime, and soon after the restart, Jonathan Osorio, one of those adjustments, curled a shot just wide. While Canada came near once again when Dominik Livakovic expertly flicked Jonathan David’s attempt over, Kramaric saw his effort well saved by the goalkeeper.
However, in the 70th minute, a curling cross from Perisic on the left was controlled by Kramaric, who moved the ball to his left foot and sent it low into the bottom corner, destroying their dreams of coming back into the game. Croatia got one last strike deep into stoppage time when Mislav Orsic made a breakaway and selflessly squared for Livaja to score.
