Alphonso Davies needed exactly 67 seconds to end a 36-year national embarrassment. On November 27, 2022, the Bayern Munich fullback buried Canada’s first-ever World Cup goal against Croatia in Qatar, erasing a drought that stretched all the way back to 1986.
Canada still lost 4-1 and got eliminated. But the goal itself was the point, a moment that crystallized how far Canadian soccer had come and, somewhat less poetically, how deeply crypto companies had embedded themselves into FIFA’s biggest stage.
The goal, the game, and the gut punch
Croatia’s Andrej Kramaric equalized in the 36th minute, then Marko Livaja made it 2-1 before halftime. Kramaric added another in the 70th minute, and Lovro Majer sealed the 4-1 result deep in stoppage time. Canada’s World Cup was over, but the Davies goal had already accomplished something no scoreline could undo.
For context, Canada’s only previous World Cup appearance was Mexico 1986. They played three games, lost all three, scored zero goals, and went home. The national team then spent the next 36 years failing to qualify for a single tournament.
