Canada beat Costa Rica 1-0 in World Cup qualifying match at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton | The Canadian News

A goal from Jonathan David in the second half has brought Canada closer to the World Cup.

David’s goal in the 57th minute was all Canada needed to beat Costa Rica 1-0 on Friday in a World Cup qualifier in front of 48,806 fans at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium.

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The goal came after Costa Rican goalkeeper Leonel Moreira shoved a ball into the penalty area, leaving David to put the ball into goal.

With the victory, Canada remains in third place in the CONCACAF octagon. Canada has 13 points from seven games (3-0-4) while Costa Rica fell to 1-3-3.

The top three teams in the standings will win places for next year’s World Cup in Qatar. The fourth-place team gets a last-chance tiebreaker with another wild-card team from another region.

Moreira started for Costa Rica due to an injury to the national team’s regular starting goalkeeper, Keylor Navas of Paris St-Germain.

The goal came minutes after a bicycle kick from Canadian winger Tajon Buchanan paralyzed Moreira in his tracks, but the ball hit the crossbar, the second time the Canadians found wood in the game.

The first close call came in the 15th minute. A corner kick from local hero Alphonso Davies entered a scrum by the Costa Rican defenders and bounced off the crossbar.

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The game marked the first time Davies played a competitive game in Edmonton since his teens. But during the first half, the Bayern Munich star was regularly displaced by two or three defenders each time he approached the ball.

In the 15th minute he was able to see the goal, but his shot was blocked thanks to a slip by defender Oscar Duarte.

Davies had another chance in the 66th minute, but fired his shot over the bar.

READ MORE: Canada aims to score first, but also not worried about falling behind early in the World Cup qualifiers

Costa Rica’s best chance of the match came in the 34th minute. Youstin Salas’ volley forced Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan into a dive.

Seconds later, Salas was back in the mix. Most of the fans present shouted for US referee Ismail Elfath to award a penalty after Salas knocked down David in the Costa Rican area, but Elfath rejected the appeals.

Twice in the first half, teams came together in scrums after fouls, adding a bit of heat to the match in cold 1 ° C weather.

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The first came after Canadian defender Richie Laryea earned a yellow card for expelling Costa Rican attacker Jewison Bennette. Then, at 23, Bennette returned the favor, getting a yellow after another altercation with Laryea.

Canadian defender Steven Vitoria also saw yellow in the first half. Ricardo Blanco got a yellow in the 70th minute for a foul on Buchanan.

Ike Ugbo made his debut in a Canada jersey, coming in as a substitute in the 82nd minute. Ugbo, a former England youth international, declared his intention to play for Canada last week.