UMM ŞALĀL ‘ALĪ, Qatar — Canada wasted little time Sunday ending its scoring drought at the men's World Cup via Alphonso Davies but could not hold off Croatia, losing 4-1 to end its hopes of reaching the tournament's knockout round.
Ranked 12th in the world and runner-up to France four years ago in Russia, Croatia is filled with talent from top clubs and its class showed in rallying from an early 1-0 deficit.
Two goals by Andrej Kramaric and one by Marko Livaja accounted for the Croatian comeback. Lovro Majer added a stoppage-time goal in the 94th minute on a two-on-none attack.
The 41st-ranked Canadians started with a bang with a Milan Borjan goal kick finding Cyle Larin at midfield. Larin controlled the ball deftly with his foot and sent it over to Tajon Buchanan down the right flank. Buchanan surged ahead, took two touches, lifted his head and sent in a cross that Davies, soaring through the air high above fullback Josip Juranovic, headed home past goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.
The Canadians came into the contest — the first-ever meeting between the two countries — needing at least a point to keep alive their hope of advancing out of the group stage with coach John Herdman calling it "one of those do-or-die games."
Croatia also needed a result after tying Morocco 0-0 in its opener.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2022
The Canadian Press
