After Mexico’s victory (2-0 against South Africa), the second host of the 2026 World Cup is also celebrating – even though he didn’t win. Joker Cyle Larin secured a historic draw for Canada in the 1-1 (0-1) draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina with his goal in the 78th minute. Previously, after Jovo Lukic’s goal (21st), it looked for a long time as if the Italy scare would crash the home party.
Canada celebrated the second opening of the World Cup with some of its biggest stars, but that was over with the final whistle. The first setback was that the Toronto Stadium apparently couldn’t be filled; the 45,000-seat arena was only about 90 percent full. And the people who came to see their home country score points for the first time in their third World Cup participation had to tremble for a long time – but then Larin prevented Canada from suffering their seventh defeat in their seventh World Cup game.
“It was a very special moment for me, but I was ready to come in and score a goal. We had a lot of chances and I knew our moment would come.”said the goalscorer after the game. “We have to build on this game, now we have to push ourselves to the limit and become much more efficient in front of the goal.”
David hides the fact that he is a top striker
Already in the third minute, Bosnia was on the verge of the first shocking moment for the Canadians, Schalke defender Nikola Katic headed it for Amar Memic, who miserably missed the great chance from 13 meters (3rd). This scene was not the only evidence that the hosts were nervous and needed some time to find their way into the game without star player Alphonso Davies.
After a quarter of an hour things turned around and Canada suddenly put pressure on them – and had a huge chance to take the lead. After a poor defense by the Bosnians, Jonathan David had a free shot, but only pushed the ball right into Nikola Vasilj’s arms (17′). David is considered Davies’ co-star, plays for Juventus Turin and is a top striker – but that wasn’t visible in the situation.
Jovic shows Canada how it’s done
Instead, a Bosnian attacker showed his nose in front of the goal. Sead Kolasinac extended a corner and Lukic nodded the ball into the goal from one meter to give Bosnia the lead (21′). No Edin Dzeko, who sat on the bench, no Ermedin Demirovic – but Jovo Lukic, who plays in the Romanian first division for FC Universitatea Cluj and was top scorer last season. He obviously took this form with him to the World Cup.
The better team in this phase was Canada, who did a lot of things right – until they scored. Tani Oluwaseyi came through brilliantly after a long ball, but then shot clearly over the far corner, even though he was no longer under pressure (32′). The Canadian harmlessness was particularly evident in standard situations; after eight corners and long throws into the penalty area, Bosnia had nothing to do with it.
Kolasinac first with an assist, then world class
The European playoff conqueror of Italy concentrated heavily on defending after taking the lead, but the hosts didn’t take advantage of it enough. It also looked good in the 47th minute as Oluwayesi beat his opponent on the line, but then it wasn’t enough again and Vasilj was able to fend off his cross pass. But shortly afterwards, only centimeters were missing to equalize.
Jesse Marsch’s team showed that they had a lot of football in them, so Oluwaseyi appeared freely in front of Vasilj – and then things got crazy. The FC St. Pauli goalkeeper got his foot on the ball, but behind him Kolasinac did the heroic deed; somehow the former Schalke left-back directed the ball onto the crossbar from a meter away – Bosnia celebrated as if it had just scored a goal (53′).
Larin makes Canada cheer
That should have happened a few moments later. After a long shot and an unsuccessful header, Demirovic ran freely towards the Canadian goal, but at the crucial moment he put the ball too far forward, so keeper Maxime Crepeau was able to save it (54′). Not much was missing from a Bosnian corner when Tarik Muharemovic’s header narrowly failed (59′).
The chances increased on both sides in this phase, and after a header from Oluwayesi, Katic also had to save from the line (66th). Canada was so close to equalizing and was now playing really well, but failed to reward themselves for their effort. But that happened in the 78th minute: Less than three minutes after being substituted, Larin got the ball and shot it into the net from 15 meters – the Toronto stadium suddenly turned upside down.
“We realized we had the game under control and started to dominate it. Then the substitutes came and turned things around. I told the players: ‘We’ve got them, now all you have to do is score'”said Marsch after the game. “The first half disappointed me, everything was different in the second half. We have everything in our hands, that was a big point for us so that we don’t lose ground. We now have to show that we have learned from this game.”
First Canada win against Qatar?
The stands were now better filled, there were only a few places left and there was a real World Cup atmosphere in Toronto. The spectators even tried to whip their team to victory, and the marching team also pushed for it. However, the final punch was missing in the last few minutes, and despite all the euphoria, it probably wouldn’t have been appropriate to take too many risks. Nevertheless, Larin still had a chance to win in the 96th minute, but his shot was blocked at the last moment.
This means that both Canada and Bosnia have created a reasonable starting position for the rest of the group phase. Bosnia continues next Thursday against group favorite Switzerland (9 p.m.), Canada will face Qatar three hours later at midnight. There could even be the first victory in the country’s World Cup history for the co-host.