In the Qatar Cup, Canada finished the first phase without any points, with a balance of -5. Only hosts Qatar managed to be worse, with a balance of -6 and three defeats.
This time, Canada owns the house. And the draw did the favor of placing the two teams in the same Group B. Thus, the duel between them, on 6/18, will be historic: someone will have to score.
Even without being the seed, Switzerland is the best ranked team in the group (12th), captained by midfielder Granit Xhaka, currently at Sunderland.
For the home team, striker Jonathan David, 26, will try his first goal in World Cups, after failing in 2022 — the young man already has the title of top scorer for the Canadian team on his resume, with 39 goals.
For Qatar, the big star is on the bench, Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui. After being fired from the Spanish national team on the eve of the 2018 World Cup, the manager will finally make his World Cup debut.
Bosnia now has ball boy Afan Cizmic on its staff, a young man who became a national celebrity when he stole from Italian goalkeeper Donnarumma during the repechage penalty shootout.
The home team is the only one of the 48 that will have all three first-round games on Canadian soil.
Canada, Qatar or Bosnia will also make history: as each group qualifies at least two teams, one of the three will go to the second phase for the first time.
