Canada, who last participated in the FIFA World Cup in 1986, started clearly better and created several hot scoring chances. The closest came superstar Alphonso Davies whose penalty was saved by Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois.
After that, Canada continued to push for a lead goal, but to no avail. At the same time, they called for not one, but two penalties which, judging by the TV images, looked clear, but the referee waved the situations away.
Then Belgium came alive – and took the lead. Toby Alderweireld sent a long ball that Michy Batshuayi took down and thumped it 1-0.
In the second half, the tempo dropped and Canada had most of the ball, but never got into any hot spots and the game ended with a Belgian victory, 1–0.
The Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib sat in the stands. According to the AP, she had the “One Love” armband around her arm when she met Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
The ‘One Love’ armband has been the talk of the week after the international football governing body, Fifa, banned players from wearing it.