Despite having the perfect start to their second group match, Canada was well beaten 4-1 against Croatia in Doha. The result means that Canada becomes the second nation after hosts Qatar to be eliminated after two rounds of play.

Alphonso Davies met Tajon Buchanan’s cross just 68 seconds in to put the Canadians in front. That was the Canucks’ first ever World Cup goal, having been unable to find the net in the 1986 edition.

After that, Croatia got themselves into the game and started to dominate. The final 10 minutes before the half changed everything. Andrej Kramaric, who had already put the ball in the net but was called back for offside, leveled the score in the 36th minute. Played in by Ivan Perisic, the Hoffenheim man beat Milan Borjan to tie things up.

The winner came on the stroke of halftime. Josip Juranovic carries the ball forward but is met by a host of black shirts. He still finds an open Marko Livaja, who bests Borjan with an excellent shot.

John Herdman made a couple of changes at the half, which were to no avail. With 20 minutes to go, Perisic found Kramaric again. The versatile attacker got past Kamal Miller to put the ball in and add to the Croatians’ lead.

There was still time for one more goal from the 2018 finalists, as a Miller mistake allowed Milsav Orsic to run in on Borjan. The Dinamo Zagreb men played it over to Lovro Majer, who capped the scoring.

Canada faces Morocco on Thursday with the task of playing spoiler. The North Africans won the earlier game 2-0 over Belgium, meaning a point will see them through. Croatia will also look to move on as they will battle Belgium on the same day. Zlatko Dalic's side holds a point more than the Red Devils, thus avoiding defeat will be enough.