Canada had to wait a long time for its first-ever victory at a men's World Cup. It could not have possibly arrived in more emphatic fashion.
Jonathan David scored a hat-trick as Canada destroyed Qatar 6-0 to record the nation's long-awaited first win at the tournament Thursday.
Qatar finished the game with nine men after having players sent off in either half of the one-sided affair at Vancouver Stadium.
The second red card, shown to Assim Madibo, came after a tackle that left midfielder Ismael Kone with a broken left leg. Kone was taken to a local hospital after being stretchered off the pitch, and will undergo surgery.
That was the lone blemish - albeit a very significant one - from an otherwise remarkable and relentless performance from the tournament co-host.
"No one will forget this, and no Canadian will forget this day," head coach Jesse Marsch, who held up six fingers as he left the field, said after the match, according to Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press. "It's an incredibly seminal moment for everyone to understand that there's talent in this country, that there's mentality, that there's desire, that there's a lot of things that make this country special."
Canada was already leading 3-0 at the time of Kone's injury after a first-half goal from Cyle Larin and a brace from David, who ended his lengthy drought with a thunderous volley and then a close-range strike off a rebound. The Juventus forward - Canada's all-time leading scorer - then completed his historic hat-trick in stoppage time, and is now tied with Lionel Messi for the Golden Boot lead at the 2026 tournament.
David is just the second player to ever score a World Cup hat-trick for a non-European or non-South American team. The other was Bert Patenaude, who accomplished the feat for the U.S. in the inaugural tournament in 1930.
His historic tally capped an emotional match for Canada.
Nathan Saliba, who replaced Kone after his serious injury, scored a free-kick shortly after entering the contest and celebrated by holding up his teammate's No. 8 jersey to raucous applause from the over 52,000 fans in attendance.
Multiple players were in tears as the team huddled together around Kone, and Marsch embraced his midfielder as he was being taken off the pitch.
The resounding victory signals the biggest-ever win for a CONCACAF team at the World Cup; Canada is the first host nation to find the net six times in a single World Cup match since Argentina in 1978.
Canada outshot Qatar 30-2 over the unrelenting 90 minutes, and completed the night with a staggering 79% possession. Marsch's men had 97 touches inside the Qatar penalty area, more than any other team on record in a World Cup match, according to Opta.
The win also lifted Canada to first place in Group B thanks to its superior goal difference over Switzerland, which also has four points after two matches.
Canada and Switzerland meet in their group-stage finale June 24 in Vancouver. The Canadians need just a draw in that match to finish atop the group.
"We showed the world who Canada is," Larin said after the match, according to FIFA.
"A lot of players came from nowhere, basically. We showed the fight we have in us. And we showed that we can perform on the world stage. We are just getting started."
