Nathan Saliba of Canada holds up the shirt of injured teammate Ismael Koné as he celebrates after scoring the team's fourth goal against Qatar during their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group B match in Vancouver on June 18, 2026. Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images

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The Canadian men’s national soccer team won the biggest game in the program’s history on Thursday night, and in so doing welcomed countless Canadians on to the bandwagon.

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The smashing 6-0 win over Qatar, which sets up another biggest-ever game against Switzerland next week, was a relief to long-time fans, but probably a curiosity to everyone else, which would include the bulk of the television audience. Here’s what they need to know to get up to speed.

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It was huge. The Canadian men had qualified for the World Cup twice before, in 1986 and 2022, and had lost all six games. In their first game at this World Cup, on home soil in Toronto, they earned a first-ever point by drawing with Bosnia-Herzegovina. But this game, against a weak opponent in Qatar, was an almost-too-good opportunity to win a first World Cup match and secure passage to the knockout rounds. It was a game they simply had to win, and boy did they.

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It sure is. No team from CONCACAF, which includes North and Central America plus the Caribbean, had ever scored more than four goals in a World Cup game. That includes soccer-mad Mexico and the United States, which is not soccer-mad but is quite large. The six goals included three from striker Jonathan David, who is now tied with Lionel Messi atop the scoring chart for this World Cup.

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Yes. That one. Greatest player of all time, give or take a Pele or Maradona. That guy.

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Ismael Koné of Canada waves to crowd as he is taken off the field in a stretcher after being injured during a FIFA World Cup 2026 Group B match against Qatar in Vancouver on June 18, 2026. Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images

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Yes and no. Midfielder Ismael Koné had his leg broken horrifically by a tackle early in the second half, with Canada already up 3-0. The strange dichotomy of the night was on full display after the home team’s fourth goal, when Nathan Saliba had a muted celebration and then used his hands to make a number eight that he held aloft. Koné wears the number eight jersey for Canada. It was surreal. A perfect result for Canada, a game that made history in so many ways, and yet the players weren’t even sure how to react as they battered Qatar in what felt a little like vengeance. Stephen Eustaquio, who captained the squad on a night when it scored more goals than any team outside of Europe or South America had managed in a World Cup game, told reporters that he felt “empty.”

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Thankfully, no. Broken bones are usually better than torn ligaments or muscles, and, weirdly, three of Koné’s Canada teammates have suffered broken legs in recent seasons and returned to play. All three — Maxime Crepeau, Moise Bombito and Tajon Buchanan — were on the pitch in Vancouver.

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First, the Canadian women’s team has been quite good for a while. Olympic champions and all that. But the men, less so. That started to change about eight years ago, when this World Cup co-host role was announced, and when Canada Soccer moved John Herdman from his job coaching the women’s team to the men’s program.

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He was a fine coach, but more importantly he was an excellent recruiter. Canada under Herdman convinced a bunch of young players, many of them immigrants, to commit to Canada. Jonathan David was born in Brooklyn to Haitian parents but moved to Ottawa as a child. Koné was born in the Ivory Coast but moved to Montreal while in grade school. Cyle Larin was born in Brampton to Jamaican parents. Alphonso Davies was born in Ghana to Liberian parents. These are the kinds of players who for decades played for anywhere other than Canada because the Canadian men’s team was lousy, but Herdman was able to make them the nucleus of a new generation wearing the Maple Leaf on their chests.