Thumping win cements Canada's place as a 'soccer nation'

Canada fans would have been happy with a modest win over Qatar on Thursday. Instead, they got a historic 6-0 rout - a victory they say has cemented Canada's place as a "soccer nation".

The match will go down in Canadian sports history as their first-ever World Cup win - even though it was tinged with heartbreak after midfielder Ismaël Koné suffered a tournament-ending leg break.

"As a Canadian, to sit there and watch it all, I will live in that forever," said TSN reporter Matthew Scianitti as he walked through celebratory crowds in Vancouver.

Thursday's match against Qatar was Canada's first of this tournament in Vancouver. It was played before a sold-out crowd of 52,000 people, almost all of whom were wearing a mix of red and white.

Before the match, thousands of Canada fans marched along the "last mile" to the stadium blanketed by red smoke flares. Thousands of others gathered at watch parties across the country, from Vancouver's Granville Street to small neighbourhood bars in Toronto.

That is where Dave Di Cola, a longtime fan of Canadian football, watched the men's team dominate Qatar with dozens of other supporters.

Di Cola told the BBC that he felt "reserved optimism" heading into the game, noting that anything could happen in football.

The match quickly unfolded in Canada's favour, however, with three goals before half-time. By the end, it was a blowout - albeit one aided by Qatar having two players sent off.

For fans like Di Cola, the win was a validation that Les Rouges (the nickname for the Canadian squad) are a serious competitor in this tournament. It was also a moment that brought the nation together.

"Canada soccer has always been kind of a joke. It's always secondary," he said. But seeing the support the team has received at the Vancouver match and beyond, Di Cola added, "nearly brought a tear to my eye."

Celebratory scenes flooded social media after the win. One photo showed a fan wearing an ice hockey jersey for Connor McDavid, with the "Mc" covered by a makeshift "J" in honour of Jonathan David, who scored three of Canada's six goals - a fitting symbol of a hockey nation embracing its national football team.

But the joy was also muted due to Koné's injury, Di Cola said. "If that didn't happen, I would have been running up and down the avenue yesterday," he said.

Losing Koné is a setback for the Canadian squad, who had relied on the Ottawa-native as an integral part of its midfield power. Coach Jesse Marsch called him "a big part of the heart of our team."

On the field, Koné's teammates rushed to his defence as medics attended to him. Nathan Saliba, who subbed in for him, scored Canada's fourth goal shortly after and held Koné's jersey up in tribute.

"What you guys did yesterday will stay with me forever," Koné shared on Friday morning on Instagram after undergoing surgery.

In a post-match locker room pep talk to the team, Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed the team for showing "a level of character that some people never achieve" in their response to the shocking injury.

"You showed it when the entire country and a good part of the world is watching," Carney said. "And if they didn't watch they would have watched the highlights tomorrow."

Canada's sports history is filled with iconic moments - Sidney Crosby's gold medal-winning goal in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the Toronto Raptors' basketball championship win against the Golden State Warriors in 2019, and the women's football gold-medal win in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Di Cola contends that what was achieved in Thursday's game is much smaller in comparison, and that Canada's football team still has "a long way to go."

But the momentum has certainly built as they gear up to take on Switzerland next.