Belgium vs Canada Prediction & Tips
Belgium’s current “golden generation” is running out of time to achieve international glory, so they are hoping their recent 2-1 friendly defeat to Egypt is not a sign of things to come. After finishing third at the 2018 World Cup, Belgium must improve on the game they displayed against Egypt or risk going three games without a win for the first time since March 2014 after an underwhelming UEFA Nations League campaign (V3, E1, Q2).
Regaining the form that saw them go unbeaten through their World Cup qualifying group (V6, E2) would be the ideal way to start the group stage campaign. This is only the Belgians’ second meeting with Canada, after a 2-0 friendly win in 1989. A similar result would be welcome for Belgium coach Roberto Martínez and would represent a third consecutive win for the Red Devils in their World Cup debut matches.
While Belgium is an experienced finals team aiming to reach the advanced stages of the competition, Canada returns to international football’s biggest stage for the first time since 1986 as an underdog. They finished first in CONCACAF preliminaries ahead of Mexico and the USA (V8, E4, Q2), showing that John Herdman’s team deserves to be taken seriously and will be looking to make a good impression before their country is one of the hosts of the 2026 tournament.
At the end of the preliminaries, Canada performed better in their home matches. It only defeated Honduras and El Salvador away (E3, Q2), hinting that it might struggle on grounds it is not used to. Finishing their preparations with a 2-2 draw against Bahrain and a 2-1 win over Japan should, however, lift their spirits after four consecutive defeats on foreign soil.
Players to watch: With Romelu Lukaku out through injury, Belgium could turn to Loïs Openda, who scored two international goals in 2022 after 75 minutes. Another player used to scoring towards the end of games is Canadian Jonathan David, with three of his last four international goals coming after the 70th minute.
Interesting stat: In five of Canada’s last six matches exactly two goals have been scored in the first half (1R: V2, E2, Q2).
World Cup trivia: Belgium is one of only six teams to finish undefeated in a World Cup without winning the tournament. It happened in 1998, when they finished all three group matches tied.
Belgium – Canada FREE TIPS
OVER 2.5 GOALS @ 2.25
