Canada drew first blood in their second group game hoping to revive their World Cup hopes but it was Croatia that came out victorious at the end with a 4-1 win.
With a valiant performance in the loss against Belgium, Canada came into this one looking to both get their first ever World Cup goal and according to coach John Herdman “F Croatia” . They got off to a blistering start, going ahead when Alphonso Davis headed in a cross from Tajon Buchanan after just 67 seconds. The earliest goal in the tournament so far.
They would’ve hoped to go in at halftime with the lead at least but that wasn’t to be. Croatia got back in the game in the 36th minute when Ivan Perisic set up Andrej Kramaric for his first goal of the tournament. Croatia added a second not long after as Marko Livaja found space on the edge of the box, and fired hard and low into Canada’s goal just before half time.
Kramaric added a second in the second half and substitute, Lovro Majer scored Croatia’s fourth goal of the night. Two defeats from their first two games means Canada have been eliminated from the tournament and will basically play their final group game against Morocco for pride.
The win for Croatia catapulted them to first place on 4 points tied with Morocco and one point ahead of Belgium. Croatia need a point in their final game against Belgium to confirm their place in the next round.
