The Canadian national team did not qualify for the FIFA World Cup, earning a berth as one of the tournament's hosts. On the one hand, this allowed Mauricio Pochettino to calmly prepare his team for the main draw of the tournament. On the other hand, it deprived them of the opportunity to test their players under a higher level of responsibility than friendly matches. Apparently, this is exactly the kind of experience the Canadians lacked in their opening match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The hosts were considered clear favorites, but they failed to fully realize their potential, running into the same defensive rocks that the Italians could not overcome in the European qualifying playoff final. Canada also had to come from behind for most of the match, so the 1:1 result against the European representative was not perceived as a failure. Such an outcome against the next opponent would be a real catastrophe, which is why the somewhat sobered Canadians must take the field with maximum focus. Qatar opened their campaign against Switzerland. As the group’s underdogs, the Asian side had no other option but to mount a massed defense. However, even that style could have led to four or five goals conceded by Qatar by the middle of the first half. Fortunately for them, it was not Switzerland’s day. Murat Yakin’s charges created as many goal-scoring opportunities as roughly half of World Cup participants will create over the entire tournament. But not only did they score only once, they also conceded two minutes before the final whistle. Thus Qatar earned their first point in two recent World Cups — their first point in World Cup history. It seems their task is now even more challenging. In a packed Canadian stadium they will have to defend against the local players, fiercely supported by the stands. And it is very unlikely that a solid Canada will encounter such terrible misfortune in finishing chances as Switzerland did. Let’s bet that Canada will score two more goals than the group outsider.