World Cup 2022: Belgium beat Canada 1-0
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Belgian players celebrate after a hard fought win. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic3)

Belgium beat Canada 1-0 in their World Cup opener, on Wednesday, November 23.

Belgium’s Michy Batshuayi scored the only goal which moved his team top of Group F. A moment of brilliance from Batshuayi handed Belgium a narrow win over Canada at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Wednesday night.

Thibaut Courtois was called into action inside of 10 minutes after VAR determined Yannick Carrasco handled the ball in the area, but the Real Madrid keeper denied Canada's Alphonso Davies from the penalty spot to keep the game scoreless.

Batshuayi struck in the 44th minute to see off Canada, who are in their first World Cup since 1986, and put Roberto Martinez’s team two points ahead of both Croatia and Morocco.

The Canadians remain without any World Cup goal in their history. In their only other World Cup appearance in Mexico in 1986, Canada lost all three matches and failed to score a goal.