Adamo Marinelli
Dec. 2, 2022
After a severe mistake on a clearance from goalkeeper Milan Borjan led to Canada conceding an early goal in the fourth minute scored by Hakim Ziyech they were unable to recover and were outclassed in the midfield by a very solid Moroccan side.
Morocco won the game 2-1 and would book a trip to the round of 16 for the first time since 1986. Canada’s journey at the World Cup would end without a single win or a single point, but they played hard and made history by scoring their first-ever World Cup goal against Croatia.
The Canadians conceded again, this time on the counterattack after being dispossessed on the attack and Youssef En-Nesyri received a great pass from PSG defender Achraf Hakimi and slotted home a nice finish to double Morocco’s lead.
In fact, En-Nesryi appeared to have scored his second of the match a few minutes later, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Bullet dodged by Canada and smart play by their backline to catch En-Nesryi offside.
Canada was deflated but like they’ve shown all tournament long, they didn’t give up. Canada pressed forward and began to use their creativity and ball movement in the final third to create scoring chances.
In the 40th minute, a strong run up the left flank by Sam Adekube - who used his sound dribbling to get past defenders - resulted in an own goal after Adekube’s cross intended for Alphonso Davies in the six-yard box took a deflection off Morocco defender Nayef Ahuerd.
Canada had some momentum back and began the second half pressing Morocco defensively, creating turnovers and scoring chances in transition. Canada began controlling the possession in the second half and ended up winning the possession battle 59 - 41 percent.
However, those chances failed to create a single shot on target the entire match for Canada, as a strong, physical and underrated Moroccan defense consistently cleared away any dangerous crosses put into the box by Canadian wingers Alphonso Davies or Tajon Buchanan.
Canada came mere inches away from tying the game and potentially securing their first points of the World Cup after a beautifully placed corner by Alistair Johnston was headed toward goal by captain Atiba Hutchinson - who came on as a substitute in the second half - before hitting the crossbar and landing on the goalline before being cleared away by the Moroccan keeper.
Canada’s World Cup appearance in Qatar was a great learning experience for this young team, but it was humbling. They showed they had the potential to compete with some of the best teams in the world, but when push comes to shove, they couldn’t capitalize on their chances
and secure a result. Manager John Herdman and Canada will learn from this experience and preparations for 2026 are already underway.
John Herdman thought the final result could be better, but was delighted about the effort and fight his team showed on the world’s biggest stage.
“So I think you've seen that resilience. You’ve seen our quality. This is a Moroccan team that's just won the group, and I thought we showed that spirit, that Canadian grit that we came here to show,” Herdman said in a post-match interview with TSN.
Canada joins Qatar as the only other team to lose all three of their matches and they join El-Salvador as the only other side to lose all six of their matches in World Cup history.
“I’m proud of what these lads have shown here. You know, I think you're always gonna walk away from this, and it's going to sting. But there isn't a game that we're not proud of,” Herdman said. “We got four years to build. But this is our first step into the big unknown and we found a lot of things out that this team has got quality, [and] we can compete. And we were close.”
This team is close to finally getting their first-ever win in World Cup history, and surely with John Herdman back until 2026, with all the talent on the squad, the continued development of the players on the squad currently and in Canada’s youth development system - who will represent Canada in the future - their first win will come on home turf in the 2026 World Cup. If Canada gets more of its players playing club football in a top European league, their chances improve even more.
Arguably their first win should’ve come against Belgium as Canada controlled the whole match, but it didn’t happen.
It was a tough tournament for Canada, but they proved they belong and this tournament is a great first step towards continued international soccer success.
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