Superstar striker Jonathan David powered the Canadian men’s national team to a massive win in their ever-better bid to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Friday, supplying the goal in a 1-0 takedown in front of over 48,000 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

David’s 57th-minute marker was all Canada needed to surge to the top of the eight-team final round, staying unbeaten (more on that later) in a match that marked the halfway point of World Cup qualifying’s final stage.

Canada deployed a 4-4-2-like shape with Alphonso Davies – playing his first top-level game in his hometown of Edmonton – alongside David up top. Several chances came early in the match for Les Rouges who were empowered by the home crowd and a staggering early spell of possession that landed in the high 70 percentile.

Chilly conditions in Alberta, marked by an iconic pair of track pants worn by goalkeeper Milan Borjan, seemed to cool the attacking football through the first half as the match went into the break scoreless.

The second half started much like the first – with more chances for Canada, especially on set pieces. Tajon Buchanan got the crowned on its feet first with an epic bicycle kick off the six-yard box that rattled the crossbar.

It was no surprise that Canada’s breakthrough came soon after when David, in the 57th minute, took a deflected ball at danced around defenders before thumping in a close-range opener and giving the Edmonton crowd a cheer.

More chances came but, as the match wore on, it looked as if Canada would see out the result. Midfielder Atiba Hutchinson was substituted on in the first half to become the joint-highest appearance leader in Canadian men’s national team history, tying Julian De Guzman with 89 caps. At the other end, attacker Ike Ugbo, a recent recruit to the men’s program, made his Canada debut off the bench.

Friday’s win sees Canada improve to a 3-4-0 record and 13 points which, as it stood following results later in the day, put the team in third place halfway through the 14-match final round.

The top three teams in “the Oct,” Concacaf’s eight-team final round, will qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with a fourth taking part in an inter-continental playoff. Canada’s men’s team last qualified for a FIFA World Cup in 1986.

BOX SCORE

Goals

57′ — Jonathan David (Canada)

Discipline

18′ — Yellow: Richie Laryea (Canada)
34′ — Yellow: Steven Vitoria (Canada)
71′ — Yellow: Ricardo Blanco (Costa Rica)