For their entry into the fray in this World Cup, the Belgians cannot have any reservations. They will have to be serious and not underestimate this surprising Canadian line-up, who has given an excellent performance in the qualifying stage.
✔ 1×2 Prediction: Belgium vs Canada
36 years after they last participated in a World Cup, Canada will be ready right from the start of the tournament, like most of the teams who are considered to be weaker. The Canadians will want to bring down the Belgians, who are often too sure of themselves. Despite everything, the Belgians look too good for the Canadians, who are about to discover what the highest level looks like in a big international tournament. We see Belgium taking this one.
✔ Exact Score Prediction: Belgium vs Canada
The Belgians and the Canadians have only faced off against each other once in their history, in a friendly in Ottawa, which ended in a Belgian victory (2-0). With top players like De Bruyne, Hazard, Courtois and Lukaku, Belgium should bring it home for a calm and composed entry into the 2022 World Cup.
Victory for Belgium
With a far superior line-up, both quantitively and qualitatively, Belgium should bring home this match. The team is one of many favourites for the title and so must make a good start to this World Cup. A 2-0 victory seems likely.
Draw
Despite a few standout players like Alphonso Davies, Cyle Larin and Jonathan David, even a draw would be an impressive performance for the Canadians, who are novices at this level. We could see a draw at 1-1 or 2-2.
Victory for Canada
A Canadian victory against Belgium, who finished 3rd in the last World Cup in Russia, would be a huge shock in the early stages of the competition. All the same, it seems unlikely. A score of 0-1 or 1-2 would be the only possibility in this scenario.
✔ Half-time/Full-time prediction: Belgium 1st half; Belgium 2nd half
Despite the determination of the Canadians, Belgium should be able to kick off the scoring within the first half. They might even be able to put away another in the second half, to start off the competition calmly and efficiently.
✔ Scorer Predictions: Belgium vs Canada
Romelu Lukaku is Belgium’s undisputed best centre-forward (68 goals in 101 appearances). Manchester City’s best player, Kevin De Bruyne shares this status with Eden Hazard in the Belgian line-up. On the Canadian side, the Lille attacker Jonathan David has impressive statistics, having scored 20 goals in 30 appearances. If he can find his feet, he will most definitely find himself at the centre of the action.
✔ Double Chance Scoring predictions: D. Mertens / C. Larin
At 35 years of age, Dries Mertens is still part of the Naples team. As the team’s wild card, he often turns out to be the deciding factor. Alongside Jonathan David, Cyle Larin is the best offensive player for Canada. The Beskitas player has some very interesting statistics, having scored 24 goals in 50 appearances.
📄 Match Analysis: Belgium vs– Canada
Pre-bet Analysis
Belgium quite easily finished first in its qualifying group, 5 points in front of Wales and 6 points in front of the Czech Republic. The Belgians didn’t concede a single match and scored 25 goals in 8 matches.
Canada has qualified for its first World Cup since 1986 (which was the last and only time before this year). To do so, they finished top of their group in the first round of eliminations with four wins in as many matches. In the second round, the Canadians managed to overcome Haiti in a two-leg match. Finally, the Canadian team managed to finish first in its group in the 3rd round, in front of Mexico, the United States, and Costa Rica.
Team Form
After finishing 3rd in the last World Cup in Russia four years ago, Belgium saw defeat in the quarter-final of the Euro 2020 against Italy. They have also lost their last two matches against big nations, against France (2-3), and then against Italy once again (1-2) in the UEFA Nations League in Autumn 2021.
Canada made it to the last four in the Gold Cup 2021 (the equivalent of the Euro for the CONCACAF zone), which took place in the United States last summer, where the Canadian 11 were knocked out by Mexico. Recently, despite having secured their place in Qatar, Canada does not have much momentum, having lost against Costa Rica and Panama, notably.
