World Cup | Belgium barely beat Canada 1-0

(Al Rayyan) AL In their first World Cup match in 36 years, Canada suffered a creditable 1-0 loss to second-ranked Belgium.

Michy Batshuayi scored from a dozen yards in the 44^e minute, on a long central pass from Toby Alderweireld.

Steven Vitoria came close to intercepting the throw-in, but Batshuayi took his chance, even surrounded closely by Kamal Miller and Richie Laryea.

The world’s number 41 squad, the Maple Leaf had a 14-4 advantage in shots at the half. Only two Canadian shots were on target, though.

Alphonso Davies missed a penalty in the 9th^e minute, heading the ball only slightly to the right of Thibaut Courtois.

The golden opportunity came from a hand of Yannick Carrasco.

The officials were lenient later in the half, when Belgian Axel Witsel pushed Laryea in borderline fashion.

Alistair Johnston fumbled in the first moments of the match, opening the door to a first Belgian threat.

Canada still delivered a fine first quarter of an hour of play; the country had then had 62% of the time of possession.

A member of group F, Canada will play again on Sunday against Croatia.

Next will come a match against Morocco on 1^er december.

On the half hour mark, a powerful shot from Johnston was stopped by Courtois. The CF Montreal player had just been mowed down when he entered the danger zone. He looked in the direction of the official in search of a call, before moving into position for an excellent shot.

In the added time in the first half, Tajon Buchanan redirected a cross on the ground too high.

At the half, the Belgians had done enough to have a 54-46 advantage in time spent on the ball, in percentage.

At the 65^e, Amadou Onana almost created a five against three close to Milan Borjan’s net, after defeating Ismaël Koné, from CF. He pushed the ball just a little too far, however, and the Canadian defense was able to save the day.

Eleven minutes later, Cyle Larin, posted near the goal, failed to control Buchanan’s precise pass, coming from the right flank.

Larin had another opportunity at the 80^e minute, on a cross from Johnston. His header was stopped by Courtois, diving to his right.

The Real Madrid keeper is six-foot-six.

Johnston was shown a yellow card soon after when he stopped a Lois Openda push too hard on the left flank.

There were three shots on target per side in total. Overall, 21 of the 30 shots came from John Herdman’s squad.

The match was presented in front of 40,432 people, at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium. The place was inaugurated in December 2020.

The Maple Leaf had not played in the World Cup since June 9, 1986 – a 2-0 loss to the Soviet Union in Mexico.

Belgium managed without star striker Romelu Lukaku, who scored 68 goals in 102 games with the Red Devils. He is injured in the left thigh.