Canada falls to Belgium in FIFA World Cup opener

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Despite several more chances through the half with Canada outshooting Belgium 14-4 (two shots on target each), Belgium’s Michy Batshuayi opened the scoring in the 44th minute to make it 1-0.

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The second half brought more of the same but no success for Canada with multiple crosses into the Belgian area either off target or quickly swatted away.

Canada outshot Belgium 21-9, however each team managed just three shots each on goal. Belgium carried a majority, 54 per cent, of possession.

Alistair Johnston and Davies both picked up yellow cards in the match, with any further cards resulting in a game suspension.

Canada’s second game of the tournament is Sunday, Nov. 27 when they play Croatia. Kick-off is 8 a.m. Pacific time. They’ll wrap the round-robin stage of the tournament against Morocco on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7 a.m.

The top two teams from their Group F will advance to the knockout stage.

It was the first game for Canada at a FIFA World Cup since 1986 where they went 0-3 and failed to score a goal.

Canada has automatically qualified for the 2026 event through their role as co-host with Mexico and the United States.

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