In a back-and-forth battle, Croatia defeated Canada 4-1 on Sunday at Khalifa International Stadium.
Andrej Kramaric (twice), Marko Livaja and Lovro Majer scored for Croatia, while Alphonso Davies netted Canada’s goal.
Croatia now sits tied with Morocco atop the Group F table, while Canada is officially eliminated from contention with one game still to play. Croatia (four points), Morocco (four points) and Belgium (three points) will fight for the two spots in the knockout round.
Things looked promising for Canada early on Sunday. Just one minute and seven seconds into the match, Davies scored Canada’s first ever World Cup goal. It was the quickest goal of the tournament so far.
He buried a header while stationed between two defenders after a cross from Tajon Buchanan.
Canada maintained control throughout the next part of the first half, attacking similarly to how it did against Belgium in the opener.
Despite the attack, Canada couldn’t break through for a second goal.
Croatia evened the score in the 36th minute when Kramaric found the back of the net.
Moments later, in the 44th minute, Croatia asserted its dominance. Livaja scored on a shot from the top of the box just before halftime — the second straight match where Canada allowed a goal in the 44th minute.
Croatia remained in control throughout the second half, scoring twice more to cruise to victory.
First it was Kramaric, netting his second goal of the match on a nifty shot through the defender’s legs.
To put a bow on it, Croatia scored one last goal in stoppage time.
The final goal was Croatia’s easiest, with a two-on-zero breakaway. Majer buried the shot off a feed from Mislav Orsic.
Both teams will wrap up group play on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET. Croatia plays Belgium, while Canada faces Morocco.
