With his team trailing 1-0 at the hour mark, Canada's head coach has opted to make his first changes, with record goal-scorer Larin coming on for Hoilett and Kone coming on for captain Hutchinson. Follow live updates from the Canada vs. Belgium game:
Time: Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 2:00 p.m. ESTFollow live updates below
With Canada currently chasing the game, and facing the prospect of sitting bottom of Group F if the score remains the same, it seems a no-brainer to bring on Larin, who has 25 goals in the colours of Canada. Given the struggles of Jonathan David so far, where the first-choice striker has yet to direct any of his six attempted shots on target, having a secondary outlet in the striking department seems a sensible choice.
The best of those chances was the penalty awarded to Canada just nine minutes in. Following a video review, the referee pointed to the spot after Tajon Buchanan’s shot had hit the outstretched arm of Yannick Carrasco. But Davies, who doesn’t normally take penalties for his club team, Bayern Munich, was unable to place his shot wide of Thibaut Courtois, and the Real Madrid goalkeeper got down to his right to save.
Meanwhile Belgium, the world’s second-ranked team, has looked nervy and out of sorts, just as it did last Friday in a 2-1 exhibition loss to Egypt in its final World Cup warmup game. The Red Devils have forced Milan Borjan into just one save, which came inside the first minute. The miss was the only blemish on an otherwise bright opening 15 minutes for Canada, which got onto the front foot to attack Belgium, the world’s second-ranked team.With Cyle Larin, the Canadian men’s national team’s leading scorer with 25 goals, starting on the bench Wednesday, Jonathan David gets the assignment to spearhead Canada’s attack against Belgium.
This team certainly found its scoring touch during the qualifiers, finding the net 54 times over the 20 games it took to reach Qatar, so Canada knows where the net is. It’s just a question of beating Thibaut Courtois, arguably the world’s best goalkeeper, to find it.Canada fans cheer as the team arrives on the field to warm up ahead of Group F World Cup soccer action against Belgium at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022.
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