Belgium fends off bid from Canada
AL RAYYAN, Qatar — Thibaut Courtois saved an early penalty and Michy Batshuayi scored the only goal to give Belgium a 1-0 win over Canada at the World Cup on Wednesday, spoiling the North American team's return to the tournament after 36 years.
The Canadians have yet to collect a point or even score a goal in four World Cup matches, which includes the three games from their debut in 1986.
Still, they outplayed second-ranked Belgium at times at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, with Alphonso Davies — the star of Canada’s team — squandering the best chance when his penalty was blocked by Courtois.
With Eden Hazard ineffective and Kevin De Bruyne’s passing unusually awry, Belgium often relied on the long ball from the back and that tactic led to the 44thminute goal. Toby Alderweireld split the defense with his pass and Batshuayi ran through to guide a left-footed finish into the far corner.
Batshuayi was only playing because firstchoice striker Romelu Lukaku was injured and could potentially miss the entire group stage.
Canada had 21 shots compared to the nine of Belgium.
The Canadians had 14 shots in the first half alone, the most by a team at the World Cup without scoring in 16 years.
SPAIN 7, COSTA RICA 0
Not since Pelé in 1958 had someone as young as Gavi scored a goal at the World Cup.
The 18-year-old midfielder led the way as Spain pulled off the biggest World Cup win in its history with a rout of Costa Rica at Doha.
Pelé scored two goals in the 1958 final, when Brazil won its first World Cup by beating Sweden 5-2.
“I’m proud to be in that podium," Gavi said. "Not even in my dreams I had imagined this."
Gavi only managed to score one goal Wednesday, but his teammates added plenty of others.
Not long after Japan surprised Germany 2-1 in the other Group E match, Spain's young squad avoided any chance of an upset with Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio and Ferran Torres scoring a goal each in the first half. Torres, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Álvaro Morata added to the lead in the second half.
MOROCCO 0, CROATIA 0
Morocco held 2018 finalist Croatia to a draw at Al Khor, Qatar in another strong performance by a team from an Arab country.
Morocco’s promising performance came 24 hours after Saudi Arabia sparked the first World Cup in the Middle East into life by beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina in one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history. Tunisia followed with a scoreless draw against European Championship semifinalist Denmark.
Morocco managed to stifle Croatia captain Luka Modric, who won the best player award at the last World Cup when he led his country to the final before losing to France.