FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers
Final Score: United States 1-1 Canada
Goalscorers: Aaronson 55′; Larin 62′
Match in a minute or less
The Canadian men’s national team picked up a massive point away from home with a 1-1 draw against the United States in Nashville. After weathering a storm in the first half and making it to the break with the score 0-0, Canada finally faltered in the 55th minute as a sloppy giveaway led to Brenden Aaronson’s opening goal. They didn’t trail for long, though; Alphonso Davies, burning his marker with pace, found Cyle Larin in the 62nd minute with a perfect low cross to make it 1-1. From there, both sides traded chances, but neither managed to break the deadlock as Canada left with a strong result on the road.
Three Observations
Canada tactics remain fluid, to varying effect
It’s starting to become a hallmark of the Canadian men’s national team: multiple times in seemingly every big game under John Herdman, they’ve adjusted their shape and tactics midway through each half. These changes certainly seem to be planned from the get-go, as they try to throw curveballs at the opponent.
On Sunday night, they opened the contest playing in a 3-4-3 formation, with Samuel Adekugbe playing left wingback to allow Alphonso Davies to play as a high winger — with Davies and Junior Hoilett dropping back to make it more of a 5-4-1 when the U.S. had control within the Canadian half. Around the 20th minute, though, Hoilett tucked into the middle and Davies dropped into a midfield four to make it a 4-4-2.
That particular change didn’t have the desired effect, with many of the Americans’ best chances coming in that stage where Canada had less width and allowed the U.S. to put more pressure on the Canadian fullbacks. They reverted to the 5-4-1 to get to halftime at 0-0, but came back out of the break in the 4-4-2, and conceded the opening goal not long after.
The latter stages of this game saw Canada continue to switch quite fluidly between the two shapes, with Tajon Buchanan in particular looking excellent after coming in to cause problems on the right side. Herdman will likely have learned a great deal from this game about what works in the most difficult contests and what doesn’t — because there was plenty of both. When they played in the 4-4-2, Canada were able to get at the American backline more frequently and find more space for Hoilett and Cyle Larin to make an impact, but it did leave them more exposed going backwards if the ball was lost.
Forcing the opponent to adapt to new structures and tactics as the game goes on is definitely a strength for Canada, and gave them a psychological upper hand as the match unfolded. Expect more of this from Herdman’s side as this World Cup Qualifying campaign continues, as they look to perfect their various tactical tools.
Davies gets better of wide battles with Dest, Yedlin
Much was made heading into this game of the battle we might see along the touchline between Canada’s Alphonso Davies and Barcelona fullback Sergiño Dest for the U.S. Certainly, it was a major storyline of the first half — up until Dest left the game just before halftime with an injury. Prior to then, the two had clashed directly on quite a few occasions; with Sam Adekugbe playing left-back (very well, it’s important to note), Davies was free to get forward in search of long balls to spring counter attacks.
Dest, typically a very attack-minded fullback, had real trouble dealing with Davies when he was able to get on the end of those long passes — one in particular from Milan Borjan really caught Dest and centre-back John Brooks off guard. Canada didn’t make anything of those counter-attacking chances, with runners arriving too late into the box or missing with shots, but it was clear Davies was finding lots of room to do what he does best.
DeAndre Yedlin, who can perhaps come closer to matching Davies’ speed, came in to replace Dest in the 44th minute, which changed the nature of that battle somewhat, but Davies still managed to get the better of his opposite number thanks to his better footwork with the ball at pace. Indeed, that’s how Davies created Canada’s 62nd-minute goal — he got to Adekugbe’s pass first, and turned the corner around Yedlin to set up Cyle Larin for the finish.
Davies coming off with injury in the 77th minute is a concern, and hopefully he’ll be alright to play on Wednesday against El Salvador, but this was a very strong performance from him despite being the player the U.S. will have most wanted to contain.
Canada defending hesitant in first half, imposes more in late stages
With so much of the game spent with the U.S. in possession (about 70%), especially in the first half, Canada typically didn’t seem very eager to press their opponents, instead affording them a good deal of space between the lines. Canada were, for the most part, capable of suffocating the Americans by drawing them into the crowded middle of the pitch, but wide centre-backs Alistair Johnston and Scott Kennedy did struggle when defending one-on-one (and it was Kennedy’s giveaway that led to the U.S. goal).
When they did win the ball back, Canada gave the ball away far too easily — their pass accuracy hovered around 72% for the whole game, and although that’s partly down to their directness and attempts to push forward in transition, it still played too much into the U.S.’s hands and let them set up in possession.
With the U.S. missing Weston McKennie’s presence in midfield, Canada might’ve been able to put a little more pressure on centrally and tried to have Stephen Eustaquio and Mark-Anthony Kaye impose themselves a little more — which, in fairness, they did in the late second half after Canada made a few substitutions.
The full Canadian team pressed forward far more after the hour mark, with arguably more good chances than their opponents in the final 20 minutes or so with Tajon Buchanan combining very well with Richie Laryea.
Canada certainly had the quality to go toe-to-toe with the Americans on Sunday, which they perhaps learned more as the match went on, having figured out what the U.S. wanted to do and then beginning to get on the ball more as they became comfortable in the second half. Canada eventually looked like a side with more energy, having forced the U.S. defenders to do a lot of running in transition with quick counter attacks. The Canadians may be a little disappointed not to have capitalized on another chance near the end, but they emerged with a very important point and demonstrated, yet again, a genuine ability to compete with the U.S.
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Alphonso Davies, Canada
Davies was the most lively part of Canada’s attack for the roughly 75 minutes he was on the pitch, with his incredible pace and deft feet too much for the U.S. to handle along the flank. His assist on Cyle Larin’s goal was a wonderful cross into the box, too. Honourable mention to Sam Adekugbe.
What’s next?
Canada return home to BMO Field in Toronto, where they’ll take on El Salvador this Wednesday night (8 pm ET, live on OneSoccer and Sportsnet) in their final game of this international window. The United States will travel to Honduras, for an away game to close out the window, also on Wednesday (10:30 pm ET).