The Canadian men’s national team took another big multi-goal step towards qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Saturday by taking down Aruba 2-0 in Bradenton, Flordia.

Following the result, Canada sits tied on points atop Group B of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers with second-placed Suriname — their superior goal differential (+22 vs. +15) gives them the tiebreaker for first place going into a crucial tilt with the Surinamese in three days’ time.

Lucas Cavallini opened the scoring for Canada in the 18th minute with a clinical header from close range following a quality delivery from the right flank courtesy of Mark-Anthony Kaye. Just two minutes later, captain Junior Hoilett doubled the Canadian lead from the spot following a handball in the Aruba area.

Seconds before the break Cavallini got his brace with another delivery from the right — this time with even more ease thanks to a brilliant pick out from Tajon Buchanan.

Following the interval, Canada picked up where they left off in the 49th minute, firing a fourth past Eric Abdul via Zachary Brault-Guillard’s pirouette and arrowed finish to the far top corner.

After a dual super-sub from John Herdman that saw Jonathan David and Alphonso Davies enter the contest, the latter nabbed a fifth for Canada thanks to a fortuitous bounce off of an Aruba defender. Fellow substitute Cyle Larin made it six with a cool finish after an Aruba error playing out the back in the 88th minute.

Canada would complete the touchdown through a strong effort by David in added time to make it 7-0 — a scoreline that would hold up at the full-time whistle.

Up next for Canada is a Group B decider against Suriname on Tuesday (8pm ET/5pm PT on OneSoccer). A win or draw would send Les Rouges to Concacaf’s second round, where they’d face the winner of Group E – either Haiti or Nicaragua – in a two-legged tie starting next weekend.

BOX SCORE

Goals

18’ – Lucas Cavallini (Canada)
20’ – Junior Hoilett (Canada)
45+3’ – Lucas Cavallini (Canada)
49’ – Zachary Brault-Guillard (Canada)
78’ – Alphonso Davies (Canada)
88’ – Cyle Larin (Canada)
90’ – Jonathan David (Canada)

Discipline

19’ Marlon Periera (Aruba)

MATCH NOTES

• Dayne St. Clair rang in his full international debut with the clean sheet and is officially cap-tied to Canada following his first start in goal for the senior side.
• Canada’s final game of the first round of qualifying comes Tuesday evening against fellow Group B contenders Suriname.
• Lucas Cavallini’s second goal was his 16th in just 20 appearances, putting him in a tie with Alex Bunbury for fifth place on the all-time scoring list for Canada.