TORONTO — Like veins running toward the heart, the streets of Toronto pulsed with red and blue on Friday as Canadian and Bosnia and Herzegovina fans made their way toward Toronto Stadium for the first men’s World Cup match held in Canada.
Canada’s march to the match was massive, filled with smoke, flares and the kind of energy more often associated with their Bosnian counterparts.
Toronto isn’t known for soccer marches, and Toronto FC’s supporter scene has quieted as the club has struggled over the past five seasons. Yet for Canada’s first World Cup game on home soil, fans took over, carrying that energy through the city and toward the stadium.
Canadian striker Promise David, who told GOAL that the morning before the World Cup would be “same shit, different day,” stood in the center circle before the match, headphones on, eyes fixed on his phone as he blocked out the noise. But this was the moment when it became clear: this was not just a different day.
That energy had been building for hours. More than 43,000 fans packed into the stadium, many arriving early, with Bosnia and Herzegovina supporters forming a strong block in the upper tier. Still, there was no doubt this was Canada’s home match. The buzz was loud enough to rattle eardrums, with Canadian cheers and jeers cutting through the night.
The home side had chances in the first half but struggled to finish. For much of the match, it looked like a familiar Canada performance from the past year: competitive, organized and dangerous in moments, but undone by poor finishing and one costly set-piece lapse.
Then came Cyle Larin.
Dropped from the starting lineup in favor of Tani Oluwaseyi’s speed and tenacity, Larin provided the match-saving moment off the bench, entering in the 76th minute before scoring the equalizer to earn Canada its first-ever World Cup point.
With the draw, Canada now faces real pressure heading into the second and third games of Group B, with Qatar up next on June 18 before a group-stage finale against heavily favored Switzerland on June 24. There is hope within the team that this point can set them up to advance for the first time in the country’s history.
Here, GOAL picks out the winners and losers from the match as Canada finally earned the first point in its men’s World Cup history, moving to 0-1-6 all time in the tournament.
