There is a version of this World Cup story that Canadian soccer fans have been waiting decades to tell, and on Thursday evening at BC Place, they finally got to tell it without qualification. Canada beat Qatar 6–0, securing the nation's first-ever win at a men's World Cup in front of a crowd that had clearly been saving its loudest reactions for exactly this occasion. It was not a narrow, nervy breakthrough. It was a rout — the most goals any Concacaf nation has ever scored in a single World Cup match.

The platform for the result had been set five days earlier, when Canada opened its tournament with a battling 1–1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country's first-ever point at a World Cup. That match left manager Jesse Marsch with a decision to make about his starting XI, and the decision he made — restoring Cyle Larin to the lineup after a substitute heroics performance against Bosnia — turned out to be the right one almost immediately. Larin pounced on a spilled save from Qatar goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada in the 16th minute, giving Canada an early lead the home crowd had been desperate to see.

Jonathan David doubled the lead before the half-hour mark with a finish that will make tournament highlight reels regardless of how far Canada eventually goes — a right-footed volley that opened his personal World Cup scoring account in spectacular fashion. The goal arrived just after Qatar's afternoon had already begun unravelling: Homam El-Amin was sent off in the 33rd minute, leaving the visitors to play the rest of the match a man light against a Canadian attack that had no intention of taking its foot off the accelerator.

What followed was less a soccer match than a slow-motion collapse for Qatar. Assim Madibo was dismissed for a late challenge on Ismaël Koné, an incident serious enough that Koné had to be stretchered off with what was described as a significant leg injury — a moment that briefly silenced the celebratory mood inside the stadium. Nathan Saliba responded on his teammate's behalf, scoring a free kick to make it 4–0 in the 64th minute. Qatar's misery was compounded further when Mohamed Al-Mannai turned the ball into his own net, and David capped the night by completing his hat trick before the final whistle, sealing what amounted to a statement victory in every sense of the phrase.

The numbers attached to the performance are striking on their own terms. Canada had not scored more than two goals in a single match over the preceding nine months — a stretch that had raised quiet questions about the team's attacking output heading into the tournament. Putting six past Qatar, with two different players reaching milestone scoring totals in the same match, answers those questions about as conclusively as a single result can.

For Larin, the personal story running through the result carries its own weight. The 31-year-old Southampton forward has spent much of his international career being doubted and overlooked, and being left out of the side for Canada's tournament opener fit that familiar pattern. His response — two goals across Canada's first two matches, including becoming the first player ever to score twice at a World Cup for the country — is the kind of redemption arc that tends to cement a player's place in a starting lineup for good. Combined with David's hat trick, the front pairing that delivered four of Canada's six goals on Thursday now looks like the foundation Marsch will build the rest of the tournament around.

The result vaults Canada to the top of Group B on goal difference, narrowly ahead of Switzerland. The two teams will meet on Wednesday, June 24, in a match that will determine who finishes the group in first place — a fixture that, after Thursday night, suddenly carries much higher stakes for both sides than anyone might have predicted a week ago.