From an underdog team to a World Cup phenomenon.
The year Jonathan David was born, Canadian soccer was still mired in disappointment. The national team had been eliminated from the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, failing to reach the final stages of the Concacaf tournament. A 0-0 draw against Mexico in Toronto before fewer than 6,000 spectators marked the end of yet another failed campaign.
Two decades later, things have changed. On the BC Place pitch in Vancouver, David became the hero when he scored a hat-trick to help Canada crush Qatar 6-0, creating the team's biggest victory in World Cup history.
This is only Canada's third appearance at the biggest football tournament on the planet. Before the 2026 World Cup, they hadn't earned a single point in six matches. However, after two rounds, the host nation has 4 points and a great opportunity to advance beyond the group stage for the first time.
According to David, the victory against Qatar means far more than just three points: "This result and this team mean a lot. We've been to the World Cup before but didn't win a single game or get any points. Now we've got our first point and then we've won. That's an important step forward for the future."
"More importantly, we are changing the image of Canadian soccer," the 26-year-old striker asserted.
David silenced all doubters with a historic hat-trick.
David's explosive performance against Qatar was particularly noteworthy considering he had gone four consecutive games without scoring for the national team. Doubts about the form of Canada's top scorer had been circulating before the match.
However, coach Jesse Marsch always maintained absolute faith in his player. "He leads the team in goals, assists, Expected Goals (xG), and almost every attacking statistic since I took over. David always knows how to score in big games. I believe that by the end of his international career, he will have scored more than 60 goals for Canada," the American strategist affirmed.
David's three goals against Qatar made him the first player since Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a hat-trick at home in a World Cup. He also surpassed Canada's total goals from their previous six World Cup matches, becoming their all-time leading scorer in the world tournament.
However, David didn't consider it a miracle: "A striker's job is to score goals. If you don't score, you get criticized. But when you do score, it's different," he said.
Canada currently leads Group B thanks to a better goal difference than Switzerland. A draw in the final match would be enough for the host nation to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. However, David insists that Canada's goal remains victory.
"We know goal difference can be very important and we've already created a big advantage. But the approach won't change. Canada will go into the match against Switzerland with the sole objective of winning," the 2000-born striker emphasized.
From a team once considered an underdog at the World Cup, Canada now stands before the opportunity to write a new chapter in its history. And Jonathan David is the most iconic symbol of that transformation.
Source: https://tienphong.vn/jonathan-david-va-hanh-trinh-thay-doi-hinh-anh-bong-da-canada-post1852734.tpo
Source: https://www.vietnam.vn/jonathan-david-va-hanh-trinh-thay-doi-hinh-anh-bong-da-canada
