Vancouver Whitecaps FC product Alphonso Davies scored the lone goal for Canada on Tuesday in a 1-0 win over Cuba – their second straight victory over Cuba to kick off the Concacaf Nations League.
Whitecaps FC defender Doneil Henry, who scored his first senior international goal for Canada in Saturday’s 6-0 win over Cuba, started the match but was sent off in the 55th minute. Fellow ‘Caps defender Derek Cornelius subbed on for the final 30 minutes.
The match was played in the neutral site of George Town, Cayman Islands.
With back-to-back wins over Cuba, Canada sit atop Concacaf Nations League Group A heading into a pair of crucial matches vs. the United States on Oct. 15 and Nov. 15. From the three-nation group, the winner will qualify for Concacaf Nations League final four playoff in June 2020.
Also at stake in the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League is a spot in the Concacaf Hex for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers. Canada will need to win their group and advance to the final four in Concacaf Nations League in order to narrow the mathematical gap behind Concacaf’s top-six nations in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings.
After the June 2020 rankings, 35 Concacaf nations will be divided onto two pathways to Qatar 2022: the top-six nations in the Concacaf Hex (from which three nations will qualify for Qatar 2022) and the other 29 nations in series of group stage and knockout phase matches (from which one nation will face the fourth-place finisher from the Hex after which that winner will represent Concacaf in a FIFA intercontinental playoff for a spot at Qatar 2022).
