Canada secured their first victory at a men’s World Cup finals in emphatic fashion on Thursday, dismantling Qatar 6-0 in front of 52,497 delirious supporters at BC Place in Vancouver. The result, built on a Jonathan David hat-trick and aided by two Qatari red cards, lifted the co-hosts to the top of Group B and all but guaranteed passage to the knockout stage. Yet the historic night was immediately overshadowed by a gruesome injury to midfielder Ismaël Koné, whose left leg was broken in a second-half challenge, injecting a sombre note into what had been a euphoric occasion for a nation more accustomed to ice hockey glory.

The match unravelled for Qatar with alarming speed. Cyle Larin pounced on a rebound to open the scoring in the 16th minute, and David doubled the lead with a crisp volley just before the half-hour mark. The game’s first flashpoint came moments later when Homam Ahmed was sent off for hauling down Tajon Buchanan just outside the area, a decision upgraded from a yellow card and penalty to a straight red after a VAR review. David struck again deep into first-half stoppage time, converting a parried header to make it 3-0. After the interval, the contest descended into chaos: Assim Madibo’s reckless tackle on Koné in the 51st minute left the Canadian midfielder with a visibly deformed lower leg, prompting distraught reactions from players on both sides. Madibo was dismissed, reducing Qatar to nine men, and Koné was stretchered off to a standing ovation. Substitute Nathan Saliba, who replaced the injured Koné, curled in a free-kick for the fourth goal and held aloft his teammate’s number eight shirt in tribute. An own goal by Mohamed Manai and David’s stoppage-time third completed the rout.

Viewed from Doha and across the Arab world, the defeat was a calamitous setback for Julen Lopetegui’s side, who had opened their campaign with a creditable draw against Switzerland. The two expulsions and the manner of the collapse raised urgent questions about discipline and composure under pressure. In Canada, the win was celebrated as a transformative moment for football in a country where the sport has long lived in the shadow of hockey, with Prime Minister Mark Carney watching alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino. European analysts noted that Switzerland’s concurrent 4-1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina left both the Swiss and Canadians on four points, with Canada ahead on goal difference, setting up a direct duel for group supremacy on 24 June in Vancouver. Latin American observers drew parallels between David’s treble and Lionel Messi’s hat-trick earlier in the tournament, while Asian outlets highlighted the record margin of victory for a CONCACAF nation at a World Cup.

The bittersweet triumph leaves Canada needing only a draw against Switzerland to top the group and secure a last-32 tie in Vancouver, a prospect made more plausible by the likely return of Alphonso Davies from a muscle injury. Qatar, stranded on one point with a minus-six goal difference, must beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in Seattle and hope for a favourable sequence of results to sneak through as one of the best third-placed teams. For all the elation, the image of Koné waving to the crowd from a stretcher, his leg immobilised in an inflatable boot, will linger as a reminder of the sport’s cruelty even on its most celebratory days.