Alphonso Davies opened the scoring as soon as he started (2), but Andrej Kramaric (36 and 70), Marko Livaja (44) and Lovro Majer (90+4) came back for Croatia, which leads group F with 4 points, the same as Morocco, by the 3 of Belgium, while the Canadians, without scoring, are already eliminated.
The surprising victory of Morocco adds much more emotion to this group, in which the Croats and Belgians (runners-up and third in the last World Cup, respectively), will play everything on the last day, next Thursday, and the danger that the The team that loses is eliminated, as long as the North African team does not lose to the Canadians, now out of options.
The game at the Khalifa International Stadium began with another surprise, as it was Canada who opened the scoring right after the start. Tajon Buchanan’s overflow on the left and his cross into the heart of the area was headed into the net by Alphonso Davies (2).
First Canadian World Cup goal
The Bayern Munich player’s goal is historic for Canada, as it is the first for this country in the World Cup. His World Cup participation was so far four games (three in Mexico-1986 and one in Qatar, a 1-0 defeat against Belgium) with four defeats, six goals against and none for.
That goal gave wings to the Canadians, also physically superior, preventing the Croats from developing plays. The Europeans can also appreciate the lack of technical quality of the Canadians in the last pass, since in a couple of cons the Americans could have struck again.
It took Croatia 22 minutes to bring danger to the goal defended by Milan Borjan, in a pass into the area from Mateo Kovacic that Marko Livaja did not reach with enough force to finish off.
Kramaric double
Little by little, Croatia increased the pressure until they tied. Kramaric scored first, but was canceled for offside by the teammate who gave him the pass, Livaja (26), who seconds later had another clear one that Borjan took with his knee. Finally, Ivan Perisic found Kramaric on the left, who crossed with a left foot out of reach of the Canadian goalkeeper (36) to equalize.
And just before the break, the Balkans completed the comeback in an overflow from the right side of the winger Josip Juranovic, who yielded to Livaja and he beat Borjan from the front with a low right hand close to the post (44).
In the second half, both teams played fearlessly and the goal could have gone to either side. For Canada, Jonathan Osorio, entered the court at half-time, shot from the front and the ball brushed the post (49) and minutes later it was Jonathan David who tested it, but Dominik Livakovic deflected the ball with the tip of his glove ( 56).
In between, Kramaric was able to sentence, but his shot after a cross from Luka Modric deflected Borjan to a corner (54). The German Hoffenheim striker waited until minute 70 to knock the rival down on the canvas, in a great individual play: Ivan Perisic crossed from the right to the far post and the Croatian ‘9’ got away from the mark with great control and put the ball stuck to the post, far from Borjan’s reach.
The Croatian victory could have been more bulky, since in the final stretch of the game the Balkans had several chances on the counter, although they only took advantage of Majer’s to put the final 4-1 (90+4).