Canada and Switzerland meet in Vancouver with first place in Group B at stake

Canada and Switzerland faced off Wednesday night at BC Place in Vancouver in the final round of Group B at the World Cup, with top spot on the line. Canada entered the match with a better goal difference, meaning a draw would be enough to finish first and stay in Vancouver for its round-of-16 game. The Canadians are eager to avoid leaving the city and continue their tournament there.

Switzerland came in after an impressive 4-1 win over Bosnia, a result that corrected its opening draw against Qatar and led coach Murat Yakin to make changes. One of them was promoting Johan Manzambi to the starting lineup after he came off the bench and scored twice. Lulic? No, the other confirmed starters included Lukas Hatz and Djibril Sow.

Canada kept Kyle Larin and Jonathan David up front, but was missing Ismaël Koné, who suffered a serious injury in the 6-0 win over Qatar and is expected to miss an extended period. Nathan Saliba replaced him in central midfield, and Mathieu Choinière made his first start of the tournament. Canada coach Jesse Marsch used a 4-4-2, while Yakin set Switzerland up in a 4-3-3.

The match had not yet started when the lineups were published. Ramon Abatti of Brazil was named as the referee. The Group B standings showed Canada and Switzerland tied on four points, with Canada ahead on goal difference, while Bosnia and Qatar each had one point. The knockout stage schedule runs from June 28 through the July 19 final.