Canada dominates World Cup hosts Qatar in tune-up match

Canada is going to win the FIFA World Cup.

At least, you might believe it if you just watched the first 15 minutes of today’s match.

Taking place in Vienna, Austria, the Canadian men’s national soccer team was in a class of its own in a pre-World Cup friendly against 2022 tournament hosts Qatar.

The match was played on a neutral site in order to ease travel costs for both teams.

But there wasn’t anything Qatar could do to deal with the Canadian attack, as Canada scored twice in the game’s first 15 minutes, and never really looked in trouble of doing anything but winning the match.

Cyle Larin started the scoring less than four minutes in, picking up his team-record 25th goal for the national team.

GOAL 🍁

Nice and early for Cyle Larin, who gets a head on the end of a perfectly-weighted cross by Sam Adekugbe 🎯

🔴 https://t.co/7JFAUhgjL6 pic.twitter.com/fjv1kJgtLt

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 23, 2022

Meanwhile, Jonathan David slotted home a second goal in the game’s 13th minute to extend the lead to two.

GOAL 🍁🍁

Jonathan David makes it TWO for the #CanMNT vs. Qatar, tucking home a spilled effort with ease 😎

🔴 https://t.co/7JFAUhgjL6 pic.twitter.com/2wGsGvqvcq

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 23, 2022

Kamal Miller then hit the crossbar in the game’s closing moments after a scramble in front of the net.

While the match was just a friendly, it’s a bit of a statement win for a Canadian team that was coming off a 2-1 loss to Honduras in a CONCACAF Nations League match in June.

Canada will be taking on Uruguay on Tuesday, with that match taking place at Tehelné Pole — Slovakia’s national stadium in their capital city of Bratislava. In its last match before the World Cup, Canada will be taking on Japan at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday, November 17.

Upcoming Canada World Cup schedule:

• Uruguay*, September 27, 9 am PT/ 12 pm ET
• Japan*, November 17, 5:40 am PT/ 8:40 am ET
• Belgium, November 23, 11 am PT/ 2 pm ET
• Croatia, November 27, 8 am PT/ 11 am ET
• Morocco, December 1, 7 am PT/ 10 am ET

You might also like:
• Fans upset Canada might be only country not getting new World Cup kits