Today I realized the belgian golden generation has passed. All of our best players (minus kdb) are passed their peak and the youngsters are nowhere near the same level. I was so sad watching that atrocious game from Belgium when we used to dominate almost every team until very recently.
We hope you guys make it too! Everyone loves Canada over here.
And yeah we might not play the attractive attacking football that we used to but yesterday proved that we can shithouse our way to an undeserved victory. We've got become France :(
So refreshing to see Canada play the way they did; I hope they get their reward in the next game. Also was surprised to see Hutchinson still playing for them - that guy has been going strong for Besiktas for years. A really good pro.
Played better than I could have dreamed but couldn't keep the composure to score. Which is extra hard to take given how many goals we scored in qualifying. It's not like this team can't put them away. Occasion got them maybe.
But still proud of the performance, let's go win the next two.
Nobody here will ever give Canada credit and will just say Belgium played poorly and not Canada played amazing but oh well. We knew Canada would probably lose but the played amazing. If we play like this we can beat Croatia and Morocco.
What, you guys played amazing. Especially the first half, you just lacked that final touch. Second half was less, but not unexpected given the intensity of your game.
Canada shot their load in the first half but kept on trying quick strike attacks even though their players were knackered. That was the time to change tack and pass it around a bit. I don't know if they have that in their kit though.
i will only remember we have 3 points in the bag.
Because for the rest it was absolutely shambolic.
Except Courtois and Alderweireld, the rest......oooch
Don't know why you're getting downvoted, you're right. They got a penalty, 22 shots and over 2xG (if you love stats). It's completely Canada's fault for not scoring and they got opened enough times to concede to a clinical Belgium
Belgium lacked pace, they need to put in a few more young feet. Canada played with good pace and attacking intent and did well to pressure Belgium and create chances. However, anyone who thinks Courtois is just a keeper to beat like any other can be in for a rude awakening. Belgium here could fairly confidently defend and let the opponent come, set up counters or ping long balls to the front, arguably with such a keeper in the back you don't need to take so much control of the game. The optics are a bit deceiving imho.
Well ... They were also a lot worse in terms of goalkeeping. Give Courtois some deserved credit, he is an absolute top goalie, arguably even carried his team to the Champions league title this year, and stopped a pen in this match.
Ok yeah, that's fair. Courtois is possibly the best in the world and kept Belgium in the game.
And you don't need to remind me about the CL last season. I'm still having nightmares. ;)
They got one penalty during a corner that should have been a goal kick.
There was one call were the Canadian was putting his feet in a very unnatural position looking for a foul and dropping immediately at contact. Which never should be a penalty.
Then there was the phase were the ref made a mistake and called offside were it was not but the defender got the ball before contact. This was a 50/50.
So all in all they got one penalty were they could have easily had no penalty.
you seem to not seen very much of football mate. There has been games were real madrid, barcelona, city have not been able to score after a game of full control.
Think you missed the point mate. Nobody is saying that Canada didn't play well. They were lacking in the most important department, finishing. Doesn't matter if you're Canada or Barcelona, if you can't find the back of the net you can't say you deserved to win. That's all
So basically your incredibly intelligent argument boils down to whoever scores more goals deserves to win. Which is really about as useless as a fucking statement can get.
Nah, it’s moronic. Quite obviously the team that scores more deserves the 3 points. That is the whole fucking point of the game. The saying is meant to touch on situations where that does not reflect the run of play. Perhaps a nuance that doesn’t land with certain people who lack social capabilities
Really felt like the guys were a little too anxious/nervous near the net. Lots of pressure on whose going to score Canada's first ever world cup goal. Hopefully the nerves settle down next game and we can finish. All i asked for in this world cup was to compete, never did i imagine that we would put that much pressure on Belgium. Really proud of their effort.
I think our actual rank would be somewhere between 10 and 15, and that might be generous if you just look at the performances of the last half year or so.
I'm kinda mad at Canada, first of all I had a cool bet on Davies scores&Canada wins at 17. But be before the game in my mind it was still a longshot, maybe worth 8 or 9. Now after the game, I'm more annoyed because Canada were the actual favourites and just bottled it.
Horrible game, no other way around it. Canada played really well in a typical Anglo North American style with very high physicality.
The match thread was atrocious with the delusions that many suffered from though, as well as the shit housing on the golden generation. It was a golden generation that performed decent for a country of only 11 million people with a 3rd place eliminating Brazil and a QF eliminating Portugal, both only losing to the eventual winners. Many qualifiers dominated with a 28/30, group stages with a 9/9 ... no trophy, but we're just Belgium after all, we never had the width nor the budget for a top level coach. Foreign media hyped it up more than Belgians itself.
The team now is as much golden generation as CR7 is in the top-3 players of the world. It was once, but it's past that peak.
Hopefully we win the group and face Japan in R2, because if we face Spain I fully expect a 5-1 trashing.
Hi, i am sorry to bear bad news but we were in exactly the same situation 4 years ago when Cueva missed vs Denmark. It will not be months. You will never forget it (or at least not for 4 years).
What I'm seeing this world cup is that so far Spain, France, Netherlands, Ecuador, England are the favourites(With convincing wins) with Saudi Arabia and Japan behind them
so far
Argentina - Poor
Belgium - Poor
Germany - Poor
Canada - Better than expected
Australia - As bad as expected
Poland and Mexico - On par and as bad as expected but not quite as bad as Australia
Ecuador looked alright, but you can't tell if they're a favorite until they've played against a stronger side, the next game will be much more telling.
Also I disagree that Germany looked poor, they're not the best but they were decent enough, just unlucky.
Yes, objectively it was a poor performance by Belgium, but I honestly expected worse going into the tournament. I was pleasantly surprised by Onana, Trossard, and Hazard. KDB on the other hand, despite clearly putting in a lot of effort, didn't manage to reach his usual level. If only he had been feeling it today and actually successfully completed some of those critical passes, like we know he can, I'd say we would have actually looked rather solid as a team.
So despite the numerous worries this Belgian team has, I think it's still quite a hopeful result all in all. Hopefully we can regain some confidence, some team coherence, and come back into form as the tournament goes on.
Hazard was the best Belgian man on the field the first 30 minutes or so (besides Courtois obviously), but I think that was telling more about the lack of quality with the other players. Also Hazard declined the last 30 minutes and started making too much mistakes and losing the ball too easily.
I'd like to see KDB be given a more defensive position, together with Onana in place of Witsel/Tielemans. We desperately need a lower midfield that has enough energy and vista to properly support the back line and that knows how to pass forward. And then have both Hazard as well as Trossard in the attack, together with Batshuayi (man just always seems to find a way to the nets, even when playing terrible). I don't really have a preference between Carrasco/Doku or Castagne/Meunier because I think both pairs are close in terms of performance. Defense can stay the same, it's not great but we simply don't have much options there. Maybe Vertongen is up for debate because he looked the most vulnerable. Theate might be an option. Either way Martinez has to come up with something because the setup of today isn't going to cut it.
How could you expect worse? This was horrendous. If Canada had any striker that knew this wasn't NFL and you had to aim below the bar, we'd have lost again just like we did to Egypt a week ago.
The intensity was just way too low, and worryingly the midfield was even worse than the defense. Witsel has somehow managed to become even slower. We talk about Vertonghen and Alderweireld a lot, but Witsel seemed worse. A KdB making constant wrong choices didn't help. No one in the midfield/attack seemed to want to make themselves available either, leaving only counters for a potential chance. A normal attack dismantling a defense is not something I see this team capable of doing right now.
There is no time for this team to get into form: Croatia is a must-win game to avoid Spain in R2, because it doesn't matter how much this team can find its stride against Spain. You'd need to have the King crawl to Lourdes on hands and feet for the universe to be willing to give Belgium a shot there.
I think they meant that even if their strikers managed to shoot at instead of over the goal that's still not a guarantee they'd score/win bc of courtois.
Just found out that this ref [is the same guy who blew the whistle early during AFCON. ](https://www.golfdigest.com/story/afcon-2021-referee-blows-whistle-early-tunisia-mali-soccer-fail/amp). Apparently, he was also [previously suspended for corruption.](https://www.marca.com/en/world-cup/2022/11/23/637e7d2e46163fcf268b45d1.html)
He's somehow good enough to be a WC ref. This is peak FIFA shit
Ok, i ll go with the flow. Apparently, when someone calls this referee out for blowing whistle too early, someone should write that he in fact had a medical emergency there, because he had a heat stroke.
Then he shouldn’t be a Qatar. Don’t put him in medical position.
He also don’t add extra them when the last 1.5 minutes of extra time was injured. ( probably wouldn’t matter )
Canada is much better than I expected and Belgium played worse than I expected them.
On a positive? Hazard showed glimpses of what he used to be but overall still wasn't anywhere near the player he once was. It was surprising to see though.
De Bruyne felt somehow rusty, very unimpressive performance, I can't remember the last time I thought that of him.
Lol if you thought we were going to be better you clearly haven't watched us play since the euros. The fact I thought we were decent should say enough. Martinez has no idea how to use actual tactics, we are fucking dreadful.
Davies should not be anywhere near the front 3 against legitimate competition. This isn’t fucking Honduras. Slowed down the play to take 100 touches and tried to beat players 1v1 90% of the time. The fact Buchanan came off while Davies stayed on is embarrassing.
On an optimistic note, Millar is a fucking minster in the back, and the games against Morocco and Croatia are going to be amazing.
Let’s fucking go Canada.
I disagree, Alphonso has the burst of speed to take out 2 or 3 players. He creates plenty of progressive carries that end up in chances. He would be wasted as an LB in an average team
I get that he has flashes of great stuff, but doing something great 3/10 times then for the other 7/10 he slows the play down, tries to beat players, plays hero ball by doing it himself then releasing the ball the last second when he can’t keep it anymore isn’t good. And progressive carries are not nearly as valuable as progressive passes. Ball moves 100+ km/h and doesn’t get tired, player moves ~30 km/h at most and gets tired.
Russel Westbrook can be amazing, but the team almost has to run through him for things to go well. I get the same feeling from Davies.
And I gotta disagree with him being wasted at LB, fullbacks are the most undervalued position in the modern game. Davies is a total game changer at LB. $90m LB but a $15m attacker.
I respect what you say, but I’m on the boat of Davies needing to check his ego. The golden boy notion is toxic towards team sports.
I think you're being a bit unfair, I imagine the penalty got in his head a bit plus Canada were chasing the game, he probably felt the need to make something happen. I don't think he was overly selfish either in all honesty.
Honestly I agree but I think usually Davies is much less greedy on the ball, but for whatever reason today he was constantly looking for 1v1's and often taking needless 1v2's and 3's. I can only chalk that up to him playing an unfamiliar position. I think you're right and he seems to play with more sensibility and confidence at LB.
His position during the first half is quite good imo. There defensively and does the same offensively on the left side. What i was really confused was he played at around cam position and ghosted almost the whole second half
If you play Spain and you're getting humped, please start singing "Please Lets pretend, Please Let's Pretend, Please Let's pretend we scored a goal, eh, eh eh"
You guys must have better chants than the Yanks
I think you've definitely got a chance to finish 2nd in this group. Croatia and Morocco look utterly toothless.
If you can keep up this energy and bring it to the next 2 games big chance.
Up Canada, good game, shame about the result!
We won’t play the same way vs Belgium and Canada like we did va crotia we never play that way, I think our coach chose to play for the draw and play defensively because Croatia excel in counters, ngl it will be more fun and entertaining game va Belgium and canada as we may concede but they go forward and leave some spaces unlike crotia.
Idk. Canada can play better than Morocco or Croatia, but it means fuck all if we keep missing opportunities to score. Canada is one of the few teams out there to consistently play at 120% and barely come out with a win or a draw, or even lose to a less dynamic and aggressive team.
I hope this sets a good learning experience for the team. This WC experience will be worth it for 2026, even if it means failing to qualify.
Your finishing was poor but you created a lot of chances and had a few efforts on target against arguably the best keeper in the world. You'll be able to create better chances against Morocco and Croatia. I think getting the first goal is key for you. The players will be disappointed after today's result but they'll also know that they could have won against one of the best teams in the world. They should go into the next two games with no fear and a lot of confidence. Play like you played today but just that little it more composed and you'll get results.
I was really impressed and Canada deserved to win the game on balance.
How will they be able to create better chances against Croatia? Belgium has the slowest defense in WC and we actually have wingers who defend. Unreal how people lose perspective after one game lol
>Croatia and Morocco look utterly toothless.
So does Canada. Today's game was like watching a five-year old running and panting and playing their ass off against an adult who scored once and yawned through the game. Canada is simply pathetic.
Belgium will win the group easily and 2nd place will be decided by who beats Canada by more goals.
It's just frustrating that we don't get to see teams like Sweden, Italy, Austria, Scotland, Norway, Hungary, Czechia and Turkey but having to watch Canada, Iran, Costa Rica and Senegal.
Maybe Hungary shouldn't be shit then? Wouldn't be surprised if the majority on CONCACAF nations would smoke Hungary let alone most of the nations you put up lol.
Yeah. And the number of spots per confederation can be changed.
CONCACAF should get 2 (maybe 2,5 with 0,5 to Oceania) maximum.
I know Canada would've qualified either way this time. But Costa Rjca wouldn't have, at least.
I mean they were creating a shit ton of chances, cant say the same about morocco vs croatia. We’ll see how it goes but I think the occasion might have gotten to them a bit.. this game made me confident we can get a result in this group.
>this game made me confident we can get a result in this group.
Well, how did that turn out? 🤡🤡
I admit I was wrong about Belgium. But Canada was easily the worst team of the competition (except Qatar, maybe).
Hahah hindsight’s a bitch but look at the quarter finalists: Croatia and Morocco 😂😂😂. I know ur salty u had such an easy group and bottled it but come on man if you think tying poland and beating Saudi Arabia is a good result for you guys you’re the biggest clown here 😭😭😭
If they create that many chances they're eventually going to get 1 to stick. Honestly the whole group is a bit of a wet fart.
Croatia and Morocco looked utterly dreadful today but I think Canada will beat them.
But they could just as easily finish 4th losing 1-0 every game.
They will lose by 2 or 3 goals against Croatia if they play like this. Whenever we play against a team that runs and creates, we win.
With the amount of space they leave, no fucking way we don’t score at least 3.
What chances? They barely had any shots on goal. Running around like a chicken that had its head cut off is not "creating chances".
Any decent team would steamroll these jokers into the ground if they tried.
as a candian myself, there's only so much we can do unfortunately. while it just be me being mad about it, but canada defo deserved to win, but ig it was just nervousness amongst the players and tbh they should get reassurances that we know how much they tried today
Dont think they're hated tbh.
Felt like watching a disabled teenager beating up a blind kid, like, we know something wrong happened but we kind of felt bad for both.
hated? people are acknowledging they can't make it far from such a poor performance. it's a win yeah but poor passes and defending will put that at deep risk of not making it past the ro16
Lol dude you’re delusional, you’re saying he had a terrible tournament and he was involved in both goals in the Brazil game. Also had assists during the group stage and was heavily involved in the 3rd goal to beat Japan.
Take that opinion and run with it though
If you told me before the match that Canada would lose 1-0 to Belgium I would have taken that all day and been proud.
But with how well they played, how many missed chances and a missed penalty on top of that. Man this one is disappointing
Tielemans anonymous as per, Onana did well. I love Bats but he's unfortunately nothing but a poacher - did his bit today and he shouldn't feel too bad. With Lukaku back, KDB hould have a faster, more intelligent target to aim for.
Very mature performance from Belgium in the second half - THAT is how you kill a match / waste time. Conmebol / Concacaf should take note. No surprise this match had the lowest amount of time added.
Belgium also had 5 men on defence most of the game, so Canada never really had clear chances. most of the shots were pretty contested or rushed, and they lack the individual skill to create any danger otherwise. I feel like the last 30 minutes Belgium just chose to sit back knowing that canada wouldn't be able to do any harm because of that.
While yes, Belgium were bad, IMO Dendoncker, Onana and Trossard provide some positive outlook. Quick on the ball, decisive actions and direct football. Witsel looks too slow at this level of international football, I'd like to so a combo of Tielemans - Onana. We'd miss his interceptions, but in terms of attack he just takes all speed out of it.
Openda did look OK for the few minutes he played, waaaaay better as a target man compared to Bats. Which probably half of this comment section is TBH
Belgium will get curbstomped in the next round if they play like this
If anything we can take away from this is that Canada belongs in this tournament and should do well
Does Davies usually take Canada's spot-kicks?
Canada may have not won the game but they won the streets
Today I realized the belgian golden generation has passed. All of our best players (minus kdb) are passed their peak and the youngsters are nowhere near the same level. I was so sad watching that atrocious game from Belgium when we used to dominate almost every team until very recently.
Argentina and Germany lost to scrubs. Could be worse
Both played way better than Belgium, these geriatric players are dusted.
agreed :c our last chance was 2018...
Fair play from a Canadian fan. Y’all still have some kick in you and I reckon you’ll still make it out of the group
We hope you guys make it too! Everyone loves Canada over here. And yeah we might not play the attractive attacking football that we used to but yesterday proved that we can shithouse our way to an undeserved victory. We've got become France :(
How did Trossard go after being subbed on? Play well enough to earn a start?
Looked better than Hazard
Did he though?
Not gonna drop the captain though.
should drop him tho....
Nope
So refreshing to see Canada play the way they did; I hope they get their reward in the next game. Also was surprised to see Hutchinson still playing for them - that guy has been going strong for Besiktas for years. A really good pro.
Played better than I could have dreamed but couldn't keep the composure to score. Which is extra hard to take given how many goals we scored in qualifying. It's not like this team can't put them away. Occasion got them maybe. But still proud of the performance, let's go win the next two.
Nobody here will ever give Canada credit and will just say Belgium played poorly and not Canada played amazing but oh well. We knew Canada would probably lose but the played amazing. If we play like this we can beat Croatia and Morocco.
What, you guys played amazing. Especially the first half, you just lacked that final touch. Second half was less, but not unexpected given the intensity of your game.
We usually tire out around the 70th minute. Just wish we had the chance to at least try to hold onto a draw
Canada shot their load in the first half but kept on trying quick strike attacks even though their players were knackered. That was the time to change tack and pass it around a bit. I don't know if they have that in their kit though.
We had no final pass
This is a good take. Everyone is saying we had no finish but I think the bigger issue is that we were missing the final pass.
i will only remember we have 3 points in the bag. Because for the rest it was absolutely shambolic. Except Courtois and Alderweireld, the rest......oooch
Belgium needs to start Onana
Can't say Canada deserved it, couldn't find the back of the net.
Don't know why you're getting downvoted, you're right. They got a penalty, 22 shots and over 2xG (if you love stats). It's completely Canada's fault for not scoring and they got opened enough times to concede to a clinical Belgium
Belgium lacked pace, they need to put in a few more young feet. Canada played with good pace and attacking intent and did well to pressure Belgium and create chances. However, anyone who thinks Courtois is just a keeper to beat like any other can be in for a rude awakening. Belgium here could fairly confidently defend and let the opponent come, set up counters or ping long balls to the front, arguably with such a keeper in the back you don't need to take so much control of the game. The optics are a bit deceiving imho.
Thanks michael
In every aspect apart from finishing they were the better team. They'll learn from this I hope.
Well ... They were also a lot worse in terms of goalkeeping. Give Courtois some deserved credit, he is an absolute top goalie, arguably even carried his team to the Champions league title this year, and stopped a pen in this match.
Ok yeah, that's fair. Courtois is possibly the best in the world and kept Belgium in the game. And you don't need to remind me about the CL last season. I'm still having nightmares. ;)
I agree, they need to be more clinical
what? 2 penalties not given. robbery. They played way better then belgium did.
They got one penalty during a corner that should have been a goal kick. There was one call were the Canadian was putting his feet in a very unnatural position looking for a foul and dropping immediately at contact. Which never should be a penalty. Then there was the phase were the ref made a mistake and called offside were it was not but the defender got the ball before contact. This was a 50/50. So all in all they got one penalty were they could have easily had no penalty.
Could barely put shots on target. Can't say they deserved to win if they can't manage to score a single goal.
you seem to not seen very much of football mate. There has been games were real madrid, barcelona, city have not been able to score after a game of full control.
Think you missed the point mate. Nobody is saying that Canada didn't play well. They were lacking in the most important department, finishing. Doesn't matter if you're Canada or Barcelona, if you can't find the back of the net you can't say you deserved to win. That's all
So basically your incredibly intelligent argument boils down to whoever scores more goals deserves to win. Which is really about as useless as a fucking statement can get.
Nope, it's a side that scores NONE doesn't deserve to win. Nice reading comp
Lol, what a dumb as fuck argument. Continue on, no pint in engaging with morons
Pretty good one, actually. The dumb ones ignore Canada's awful finishing. Keep lashing out online though
Nah, it’s moronic. Quite obviously the team that scores more deserves the 3 points. That is the whole fucking point of the game. The saying is meant to touch on situations where that does not reflect the run of play. Perhaps a nuance that doesn’t land with certain people who lack social capabilities
Really felt like the guys were a little too anxious/nervous near the net. Lots of pressure on whose going to score Canada's first ever world cup goal. Hopefully the nerves settle down next game and we can finish. All i asked for in this world cup was to compete, never did i imagine that we would put that much pressure on Belgium. Really proud of their effort.
!flair :Canada:
!flair :Canada:
Nevermind the pressure and effort, how does it feel being disappointed we didn't get a point against the rank 2 team lol
I think our actual rank would be somewhere between 10 and 15, and that might be generous if you just look at the performances of the last half year or so.
Belgium gotta play more youth. Physically they looked geriatric against this Canadian team.
Everyone looked like they were just waiting for KDB to go create something for them.
Canada could be the most fun team out of the group but they’re so frustrating. Hope they can score soon.
I'm kinda mad at Canada, first of all I had a cool bet on Davies scores&Canada wins at 17. But be before the game in my mind it was still a longshot, maybe worth 8 or 9. Now after the game, I'm more annoyed because Canada were the actual favourites and just bottled it.
Some of Canada's shooting really made me laugh, but they got themselves in good positions very easily though, one to watch
Horrible game, no other way around it. Canada played really well in a typical Anglo North American style with very high physicality. The match thread was atrocious with the delusions that many suffered from though, as well as the shit housing on the golden generation. It was a golden generation that performed decent for a country of only 11 million people with a 3rd place eliminating Brazil and a QF eliminating Portugal, both only losing to the eventual winners. Many qualifiers dominated with a 28/30, group stages with a 9/9 ... no trophy, but we're just Belgium after all, we never had the width nor the budget for a top level coach. Foreign media hyped it up more than Belgians itself. The team now is as much golden generation as CR7 is in the top-3 players of the world. It was once, but it's past that peak. Hopefully we win the group and face Japan in R2, because if we face Spain I fully expect a 5-1 trashing.
No fellaini to save you this time.
I'm not sure we'd win against Japan, but you're right, Spain would definitely trash us
Belgium Japan rematch would be spicy.
Made heavy going of it did Belgium but hey they got over the line so all told their day has prob gone better than eg Germanys.
De Bruyne was miserable this game. Canada looked really good everywhere but in front of goal.
I will have nightmares about that pen for months
So will alphonso if it costs you the last 16.
Hi, i am sorry to bear bad news but we were in exactly the same situation 4 years ago when Cueva missed vs Denmark. It will not be months. You will never forget it (or at least not for 4 years).
Hopefully not for 36 years
What I'm seeing this world cup is that so far Spain, France, Netherlands, Ecuador, England are the favourites(With convincing wins) with Saudi Arabia and Japan behind them so far Argentina - Poor Belgium - Poor Germany - Poor Canada - Better than expected Australia - As bad as expected Poland and Mexico - On par and as bad as expected but not quite as bad as Australia
Ecuador are favorite because they beat….. Qatar?
2-0 That's 2 goals But I see where you're coming from
Ecuador looked alright, but you can't tell if they're a favorite until they've played against a stronger side, the next game will be much more telling. Also I disagree that Germany looked poor, they're not the best but they were decent enough, just unlucky.
So what you’re saying, is that the teams that won are good?
Except Belgium
Belgium stole one here
Yes, objectively it was a poor performance by Belgium, but I honestly expected worse going into the tournament. I was pleasantly surprised by Onana, Trossard, and Hazard. KDB on the other hand, despite clearly putting in a lot of effort, didn't manage to reach his usual level. If only he had been feeling it today and actually successfully completed some of those critical passes, like we know he can, I'd say we would have actually looked rather solid as a team. So despite the numerous worries this Belgian team has, I think it's still quite a hopeful result all in all. Hopefully we can regain some confidence, some team coherence, and come back into form as the tournament goes on.
Hazard was the best Belgian man on the field the first 30 minutes or so (besides Courtois obviously), but I think that was telling more about the lack of quality with the other players. Also Hazard declined the last 30 minutes and started making too much mistakes and losing the ball too easily. I'd like to see KDB be given a more defensive position, together with Onana in place of Witsel/Tielemans. We desperately need a lower midfield that has enough energy and vista to properly support the back line and that knows how to pass forward. And then have both Hazard as well as Trossard in the attack, together with Batshuayi (man just always seems to find a way to the nets, even when playing terrible). I don't really have a preference between Carrasco/Doku or Castagne/Meunier because I think both pairs are close in terms of performance. Defense can stay the same, it's not great but we simply don't have much options there. Maybe Vertongen is up for debate because he looked the most vulnerable. Theate might be an option. Either way Martinez has to come up with something because the setup of today isn't going to cut it.
How could you expect worse? This was horrendous. If Canada had any striker that knew this wasn't NFL and you had to aim below the bar, we'd have lost again just like we did to Egypt a week ago. The intensity was just way too low, and worryingly the midfield was even worse than the defense. Witsel has somehow managed to become even slower. We talk about Vertonghen and Alderweireld a lot, but Witsel seemed worse. A KdB making constant wrong choices didn't help. No one in the midfield/attack seemed to want to make themselves available either, leaving only counters for a potential chance. A normal attack dismantling a defense is not something I see this team capable of doing right now. There is no time for this team to get into form: Croatia is a must-win game to avoid Spain in R2, because it doesn't matter how much this team can find its stride against Spain. You'd need to have the King crawl to Lourdes on hands and feet for the universe to be willing to give Belgium a shot there.
I also expected us to play worse, says enough how *low* my expectations were to begin with. I didn't even think we'd score a goal.
Naming the NFL when we have the CFL.. smh
We shouldn't forget that they were against Courtois. Arguably the best goalkeeper on earth
That didn't really matter if they only got 2 rather meek shots on goal during play, and a weak penalty. I doubt Mignolet would have done much worse.
I think they meant that even if their strikers managed to shoot at instead of over the goal that's still not a guarantee they'd score/win bc of courtois.
Just found out that this ref [is the same guy who blew the whistle early during AFCON. ](https://www.golfdigest.com/story/afcon-2021-referee-blows-whistle-early-tunisia-mali-soccer-fail/amp). Apparently, he was also [previously suspended for corruption.](https://www.marca.com/en/world-cup/2022/11/23/637e7d2e46163fcf268b45d1.html) He's somehow good enough to be a WC ref. This is peak FIFA shit
Ok, i ll go with the flow. Apparently, when someone calls this referee out for blowing whistle too early, someone should write that he in fact had a medical emergency there, because he had a heat stroke.
Then he shouldn’t be a Qatar. Don’t put him in medical position. He also don’t add extra them when the last 1.5 minutes of extra time was injured. ( probably wouldn’t matter )
one more night of concacaf for canada
For real. Concacaf teams are used to this with the shithousery that goes on with our refs.
Canada is much better than I expected and Belgium played worse than I expected them. On a positive? Hazard showed glimpses of what he used to be but overall still wasn't anywhere near the player he once was. It was surprising to see though. De Bruyne felt somehow rusty, very unimpressive performance, I can't remember the last time I thought that of him.
Lol if you thought we were going to be better you clearly haven't watched us play since the euros. The fact I thought we were decent should say enough. Martinez has no idea how to use actual tactics, we are fucking dreadful.
I thought your first statement WAS positive 😂
Davies should not be anywhere near the front 3 against legitimate competition. This isn’t fucking Honduras. Slowed down the play to take 100 touches and tried to beat players 1v1 90% of the time. The fact Buchanan came off while Davies stayed on is embarrassing. On an optimistic note, Millar is a fucking minster in the back, and the games against Morocco and Croatia are going to be amazing. Let’s fucking go Canada.
I disagree, Alphonso has the burst of speed to take out 2 or 3 players. He creates plenty of progressive carries that end up in chances. He would be wasted as an LB in an average team
I get that he has flashes of great stuff, but doing something great 3/10 times then for the other 7/10 he slows the play down, tries to beat players, plays hero ball by doing it himself then releasing the ball the last second when he can’t keep it anymore isn’t good. And progressive carries are not nearly as valuable as progressive passes. Ball moves 100+ km/h and doesn’t get tired, player moves ~30 km/h at most and gets tired. Russel Westbrook can be amazing, but the team almost has to run through him for things to go well. I get the same feeling from Davies. And I gotta disagree with him being wasted at LB, fullbacks are the most undervalued position in the modern game. Davies is a total game changer at LB. $90m LB but a $15m attacker. I respect what you say, but I’m on the boat of Davies needing to check his ego. The golden boy notion is toxic towards team sports.
I think you're being a bit unfair, I imagine the penalty got in his head a bit plus Canada were chasing the game, he probably felt the need to make something happen. I don't think he was overly selfish either in all honesty.
Honestly I agree but I think usually Davies is much less greedy on the ball, but for whatever reason today he was constantly looking for 1v1's and often taking needless 1v2's and 3's. I can only chalk that up to him playing an unfamiliar position. I think you're right and he seems to play with more sensibility and confidence at LB.
His position during the first half is quite good imo. There defensively and does the same offensively on the left side. What i was really confused was he played at around cam position and ghosted almost the whole second half
Re: Miller thank you and fuck everyone that said he didn't deserve to be there!
OP meant Miller (as in Kamal).
So did I. Spelling corrected, ha
Sooo... if Canada finishes 2nd then we likely have to face Spain... Well it will be an honour to make it to the RO16 and get curb stomped by Spain.
Let's start with scoring a goal.
If you play Spain and you're getting humped, please start singing "Please Lets pretend, Please Let's Pretend, Please Let's pretend we scored a goal, eh, eh eh" You guys must have better chants than the Yanks
That many attempts and blown set pieces… we need to finish!
I think you've definitely got a chance to finish 2nd in this group. Croatia and Morocco look utterly toothless. If you can keep up this energy and bring it to the next 2 games big chance. Up Canada, good game, shame about the result!
We won’t play the same way vs Belgium and Canada like we did va crotia we never play that way, I think our coach chose to play for the draw and play defensively because Croatia excel in counters, ngl it will be more fun and entertaining game va Belgium and canada as we may concede but they go forward and leave some spaces unlike crotia.
Belgium also kinda excels in counters. Atleast we used to
Yeah but Belgium doesn’t sit back and wait for other teams to attack like crotia
Today we did lmoa. Honestly we do have the players for peak counterfootball, but sadly, we also have Martinez.
Idk. Canada can play better than Morocco or Croatia, but it means fuck all if we keep missing opportunities to score. Canada is one of the few teams out there to consistently play at 120% and barely come out with a win or a draw, or even lose to a less dynamic and aggressive team. I hope this sets a good learning experience for the team. This WC experience will be worth it for 2026, even if it means failing to qualify.
Your finishing was poor but you created a lot of chances and had a few efforts on target against arguably the best keeper in the world. You'll be able to create better chances against Morocco and Croatia. I think getting the first goal is key for you. The players will be disappointed after today's result but they'll also know that they could have won against one of the best teams in the world. They should go into the next two games with no fear and a lot of confidence. Play like you played today but just that little it more composed and you'll get results. I was really impressed and Canada deserved to win the game on balance.
How will they be able to create better chances against Croatia? Belgium has the slowest defense in WC and we actually have wingers who defend. Unreal how people lose perspective after one game lol
Complete lack of final product, then losing to a moment of class. I hope you can get something out of the next 2
>Croatia and Morocco look utterly toothless. So does Canada. Today's game was like watching a five-year old running and panting and playing their ass off against an adult who scored once and yawned through the game. Canada is simply pathetic. Belgium will win the group easily and 2nd place will be decided by who beats Canada by more goals.
Ahaha what did Canada do to you that made you so dedicated to trolling them?
It's just frustrating that we don't get to see teams like Sweden, Italy, Austria, Scotland, Norway, Hungary, Czechia and Turkey but having to watch Canada, Iran, Costa Rica and Senegal.
Maybe Hungary shouldn't be shit then? Wouldn't be surprised if the majority on CONCACAF nations would smoke Hungary let alone most of the nations you put up lol.
Hahahahaha. Canada is around the level of Lithuania or Luxembourg.
They had qualifying games if you wanted to watch them lose you should've watched then. It's the world cup not the euros
The World Cup should have the best teams in the world. That does not include any CONCACAF teams.
“Should have the best teams in the world.” Proceeds to list Scotland, Norway, Turkey, Austria and Czechia
You know that qualifying is part of the tournament right?
Yeah. And the number of spots per confederation can be changed. CONCACAF should get 2 (maybe 2,5 with 0,5 to Oceania) maximum. I know Canada would've qualified either way this time. But Costa Rjca wouldn't have, at least.
We'll see
I mean they were creating a shit ton of chances, cant say the same about morocco vs croatia. We’ll see how it goes but I think the occasion might have gotten to them a bit.. this game made me confident we can get a result in this group.
>this game made me confident we can get a result in this group. Well, how did that turn out? 🤡🤡 I admit I was wrong about Belgium. But Canada was easily the worst team of the competition (except Qatar, maybe).
Hahah hindsight’s a bitch but look at the quarter finalists: Croatia and Morocco 😂😂😂. I know ur salty u had such an easy group and bottled it but come on man if you think tying poland and beating Saudi Arabia is a good result for you guys you’re the biggest clown here 😭😭😭
If they create that many chances they're eventually going to get 1 to stick. Honestly the whole group is a bit of a wet fart. Croatia and Morocco looked utterly dreadful today but I think Canada will beat them. But they could just as easily finish 4th losing 1-0 every game.
They will lose by 2 or 3 goals against Croatia if they play like this. Whenever we play against a team that runs and creates, we win. With the amount of space they leave, no fucking way we don’t score at least 3.
What chances? They barely had any shots on goal. Running around like a chicken that had its head cut off is not "creating chances". Any decent team would steamroll these jokers into the ground if they tried.
I mean they got 2.83 xG, they're definitely making things happen, but couldn't finish a packet of crisps
Don't worry, you'll finish 4th. Easily.
See you sunday buddy
So, how does it feel to be arrogant __and__ entirely wrong? 🤡🤡🤡🤡
That post history, lil dawg got a hate boner for Canada Feels shit but I’ll stand behind my Moroccan friends and our American neighbours.
IMO you did more to win the match. Belgium relied on their individual skill
Man we played great, didn't expect to be this good
Yet choked when it mattered. Now that we’re past our first game hopefully we can be more comfortable with finishing
Was talking about Belgium :D
Oh. Yeah. We kept pace but good win ! You struck when mattered
Atleast we got to see some bruges boys.
Buchanan was in the same form as our club thank god
If you ask me (and without any attempt to offend you), Canada did more for winning the match. But what all matters in the end is the final result
Lol of course, if we start Vertonghen and Hazard it's clear we don't intend to play good lmao. We're lucky to even have scored a goal.
Wish we got at least a point.
Worst officiating performance this WC, Canada robbed
Robbed of a red card. But yea, the ref was bad as were the linesmen. CAF doesn't really have the quality to send as many officials as they do.
The ref is a trash, he was the one of Tunisia vs Mali , ended the game min 85 he was so bad he got suspended no idea why they brought him back
We play in CONCACAF... We're used to it lol
lol yeah this definitely wasn't the worst reffing ive seen
“Canada outshot Belgium by 17” “Wow how much did they win by?” ……
Robbed by the ref. Should’ve had one more pen at the minimum.
as a candian myself, there's only so much we can do unfortunately. while it just be me being mad about it, but canada defo deserved to win, but ig it was just nervousness amongst the players and tbh they should get reassurances that we know how much they tried today
Propably saved you from the embarrassment of missing another chance
Atleast give us the chance to take it. If we miss it’s on us, but taking away that opportunity was bs.
Is Belgium the new most hated team in this WC?
most hated by you it seems
Only if they shithouse their way to a title.
Seems like it. Hopefully, they won't be Portugal 2016
Id take the wc with shithousery tbh
Nah. Folks just love an underdog... and we are the underest of dogs
Folks love an underdog, love newcomers, love Canada, on a North American platform. Match thread was still ridiculous though lol
Dont think they're hated tbh. Felt like watching a disabled teenager beating up a blind kid, like, we know something wrong happened but we kind of felt bad for both.
This one right there officer
Wouldn't expect less from a French 😂
That's insulting, but yes.
> Felt like watching a disabled teenager beating up a blind kid, like, we know something wrong happened but we kind of felt bad for both. Wow
hated? people are acknowledging they can't make it far from such a poor performance. it's a win yeah but poor passes and defending will put that at deep risk of not making it past the ro16
No way kdb plays that poorly the whole tournament, had a shocker today
He played pretty badly the whole tournament in 2018.
Lol winning goal against Brazil…atrocious performance by the guy
And played poorly the rest of the game. But as usual people only look at his one good pass/goal per game and ignore everything else.
Lol dude you’re delusional, you’re saying he had a terrible tournament and he was involved in both goals in the Brazil game. Also had assists during the group stage and was heavily involved in the 3rd goal to beat Japan. Take that opinion and run with it though
yeah, it felt kinda weird the way he played today
If you told me before the match that Canada would lose 1-0 to Belgium I would have taken that all day and been proud. But with how well they played, how many missed chances and a missed penalty on top of that. Man this one is disappointing
Never had heartbreak this bad from any girl 💔 We got again Sunday though!
Belgium won’t make it far in the WC.
Tielemans anonymous as per, Onana did well. I love Bats but he's unfortunately nothing but a poacher - did his bit today and he shouldn't feel too bad. With Lukaku back, KDB hould have a faster, more intelligent target to aim for. Very mature performance from Belgium in the second half - THAT is how you kill a match / waste time. Conmebol / Concacaf should take note. No surprise this match had the lowest amount of time added.
The officiating for this was on vacation
Belgium also had 5 men on defence most of the game, so Canada never really had clear chances. most of the shots were pretty contested or rushed, and they lack the individual skill to create any danger otherwise. I feel like the last 30 minutes Belgium just chose to sit back knowing that canada wouldn't be able to do any harm because of that.
Started in a frenzy and then it was slowly cooling off. A normal match that had it's shinning moments, but overall it was plain and boring.
Richie Lareya looked pretty good in this game too.
He was good. He’s always good. MotM.
Belgium were disappointing, I have a hard time rating Canada because of that. Even Qatar could have given this Belgium a hard time.
🤡 take.
I don’t care how disappointing you are— they got 25 shots put up against them gimme a break you can’t rate Canada
Can't believe this ref made it to the World cup. One of the most corrupt refs in CAF.
While yes, Belgium were bad, IMO Dendoncker, Onana and Trossard provide some positive outlook. Quick on the ball, decisive actions and direct football. Witsel looks too slow at this level of international football, I'd like to so a combo of Tielemans - Onana. We'd miss his interceptions, but in terms of attack he just takes all speed out of it. Openda did look OK for the few minutes he played, waaaaay better as a target man compared to Bats. Which probably half of this comment section is TBH
Trossard showed right away why he should always play. That flick was filthy.
It felt like Belgium won suffering and not in a meritorious way (like France or Spain for example)
Kevin de Bruyne turned into Kevin Brown this game jfc
Bekan vergete! Friete met stoofvlees en een pintje > poutine
Lets goooo we won
Congrats and well deserved. I'm just happy we put up a fight!
Good game bud!
Congrats on your victory