Alphonso Davies gave his nation a head start by scoring their first-ever World Cup goal, but Croatia fought back to derail Canada's hopes of moving on in Qatar. Croatia was the 2018 World Cup champion. In the first attack of the match, Bayern Munich winger Davies headed home a cross from Tajon Buchanan to give Canada the lead after just 68 seconds.
Despite being down a goal, Croatia did not give up and produced many chances, with striker Andrej Kramaric having a goal disallowed for offside. The former Leicester player did draw level when Ivan Perisic's ball set him up for a first-time slanted shot, and Marko Livaja gave Croatia the lead with a rasping drive from the edge of the box. In the second half, Milan Borjan made a wonderful save to deny Kramaric, while at the other end, Dominik Livakovic expertly deflected a long-range curler from Jonathan David.
Frontman Kramaric of Hoffenheim scored his second goal of the game by calmly scoring into the far corner, and substitute Lovro Majer scored in stoppage time to seal the victory. Despite having scored a goal, Canada is yet to earn a point in a World Cup group match and is therefore unable to advance to the round of 16.