Japan's Takuma Asano celebrates scoring the team's second goal in the Group E match against Germany at the Khalifa International Stadium. Reuters
Soraya Ebrahimi reports:
Wednesday’s Group E matches saw Japan beat Germany 1-2 in a shock defeat as Spain thrashed Costa Rica 7-0.
In Group F, Belgium beat Canada 1-0 and Morocco battled Croatia to a goalless draw.
On Thursday, in Group G, Cameroon face Switzerland and Brazil play Serbia.
In the Group H matches, Uruguay will play South Korea and Portugal face Ghana.
Nov 24, 2022, 01:35 AM
Batshuayi fires under-par Belgium to opening World Cup win over battling Canada
Belgium's Michy Batshuayi celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the World Cup Group F match between Belgium and Canada at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Doha, Qatar. AP
Michy Batshuayi's first-half goal proved enough for a below-par Belgium to squeeze to a 1-0 win over a Canada side playing their first World Cup match for 36 years on Wednesday.
Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois saved Alphonso Davies's early penalty and Batshuayi opened the scoring against the run of play in the 44th minute.
John Herdman's Canada, roared on by their vocal support, also had another strong penalty appeal turned down and dominated the second half to no avail.
Belgium were without injured record goalscorer Romelu Lukaku and struggled throughout with the pace of Canada's forwards.
Well, there you go. After seeing Spain, France and England sizzle in this tournament so far, Belgium don't look as though they have what it takes to threaten based on this performance. Canada gave it their all. A valiant effort, with loads of energy and commitment but they lacked the killer instinct in the final third.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:56 AM
FULL-TIME Belgium 1 Canada 0
All done and dusted.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:52 AM
90 mins: Short corner for Belgium. De Bruyne carries it into the box after a one-two and then hits a half-hearted shot. He's been way below par today.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:51 AM
Five minutes of added time to play.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:50 AM
89 mins: Corner for Canada. Can they? Nope. Hopeless corner from Liam Miller.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:49 AM
87 mins: Another half-chance for Larin in the box. He just can't bring the ball under control and the attack fizzles out.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:48 AM
85 mins: Chance Canada! Larin can't control a header in the box from a good cross from wide.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:46 AM
85 mins: De Bruyne misses a chance.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:46 AM
84 mins: De Bruyne free-kick floated in - it balloons over the bar off the head of Dendoncker.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:44 AM
82 mins: YELLOW CARD.
Bad foul by Canada's Johnston on Openda.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:42 AM
81 mins: YELLOW CARD.
Canada's Alphonso Davies goes into the book for a foul on Trossard.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:41 AM
79 mins: Chance Canada! Great ball into the box by Alistair Johnston but Cyle Larin heads straight at Courtois.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:39 AM
77 mins: Lois Openda on for Belgium in place of Batshuayi.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:35 AM
73 mins: Canada substitution: Sam Adekugbe on for Laryea.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:32 AM
70 mins: Are Canada running out of steam a little in their attack now? Belgium should have enough game-management know-how to see this game out now.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:30 AM
69 mins: Onana's played well since he came on for Belgium. Lovely little spin in midfield there.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:28 AM
66 mins: Now it's Laryea's turn to make a brilliant last-ditch tackle on Batshuayi. This time in the box.
Nov 24, 2022, 12:27 AM
65 mins: Brilliant tackle by Kamal Miller! De Bruyne finds Batshuayi in space but the Canadian defender comes across to whip the ball off his toes and snuff out the danger.