World Cup 2022

Belgium and Canada met in the second group match of Group F on Wednesday evening. Despite a convincing performance, the Canadians around Bayern star Alphonso Davies lost narrowly 1-0 to Belgium. Davies became a tragic hero in the process.

The goals

1-0 Michy Batshuayi (44′)

Game number: 29

With an average age of 29, Belgium and Iran are the oldest teams in the World Cup. But age often comes with a lot of experience – and the Belgians have shown how valuable that can be against Canada. Clarified, they brought their 1-0 lead over time.

The Belgian team fought many battles on the pitch. Image: imago/Charlotte Wilson

The moment of the referee

When referee Janny Sikazwe’s whistle died at 85:06. His appointment had sparked talk in advance as he whistled twice too early in an Africa Cup of Nations game in January. Some were now looking forward to the 86th minute, when Sikazwe whistled the game between Tunisia and Mali to everyone’s amazement. (And two other penalties that weren’t awarded were also discussed. But the criticism was more directed at VAR.)

You can read the funniest reactions to referee Sikazwe here.

THE game scene

Bayern star Alphonso Davies was close to scoring his country’s first World Cup goal in the 10th minute. In their only other World Cup appearance, in Mexico City in 1986, the Canadians went scoreless.

But in a direct duel with Thibaut Courtois, Davies’ nerves swirled: the Real Madrid goalkeeper managed to parry his rather weak shot to the left with relatively little effort.

The sentence that describes the game

“It was the conversion of chances that we didn’t convert.” This somewhat biased saying comes from former national player Andreas Brehme and describes the Habs problem well. The underdog was overwhelmingly superior at times, but missed a lot of chances and eventually left the field as a loser.

What’s next for the teams

Belgium face Morocco on Sunday at 2 p.m. Canada takes on 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia three hours later.