Canada is out but not down thanks to star player Alphonso Davies’ history-making goal.
The country’s 4-1 loss to Croatia in FIFA World Cup play in Qatar on Sunday means Canada will not advance to the next stage, despite a third match on Thursday against Morocco.
But judging from the over-the-top reaction of 400 screaming fans watching Sunday’s game at Toronto’s largest sports bar, Real Sports, Davies’ header goal just two minutes into the match — marking Canada’s first men’s goal at a World Cup ever — took a lot of the sting out of defeat.
“I’m still very happy to see the very first ever (Canada men’s) World Cup goal,” said fan Andre Nascimento, a Brazilian living in Toronto.
“Maybe it came too soon and created that sort of excitement right at the beginning. I’m still very proud of the team. They made the World Cup.”
There was a lot of fan pride about the fact that Canada’s men qualified for soccer’s biggest global event for the first time in 36 years.
Ramping up the excitement was the knowledge that Canada, the U.S. and Mexico will host the next World Cup in four years.
“I think they showed a lot of talent,” said Toronto fan Niall Sloane. “I think there’s so much that we just proved to the entire world (who) is talking about Canadian soccer.
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“This game was unfortunate. I know it’s not what we wanted, but I’m proud,” he added. “Alphonso Davies’ goal was beautiful. For him to score the first (Canadian men’s World Cup) goal is the best. It’s a great feeling as a Canadian to see this.”
Real Sports was buzzing even before the Canada-Croatia game began. Fans were decked out in a sea of red — baseball and cowboy hats, scarves, jerseys, and T-shirts — with Canadian flags draped over many people’s shoulders as they put back pints of beer.
“We started a good game, and we thought we were going to win, but honestly that’s soccer, and sometimes you just never know what’s going to happen at the end,” summed up fan Felipe Becerra, a Columbian living in Toronto.
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