Cyle Larin scored in the 78th minute as Canada salvaged a 1-1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina in their opening match in Group B play Friday in Toronto.
Jovo Lukic scored in the 21st minute for Bosnia and Herzegovina, who were playing their first World Cup match since being eliminated from group play in the 2014 event at Brazil.
Maxime Crepeau had two saves for Canada, who entered the match with an 0-6-0 record in two World Cup appearances (1986, 2022).
Nikola Vasilj had one save for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Switzerland and Qatar, who are also in Group B, open against each other on Saturday afternoon. Either team could move atop the group with a win after Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina each secured one point.
Bosnia and Herzegovina took the lead off a left-footed corner kick from Ivan Basic, which he fired to the goal mouth.
Sead Kolasinac flicked a header on for the 6-foot-4 Lukic, who was checked from behind by a smaller defender as he headed his shot from 2 yards out for the first goal of his international career.
To that point, Bosnia and Herzegovina had controlled the play with their size and physicality. But as the match wore on, the quicker Canadians appeared better suited to the heat.
Canada had the better of the play for the rest of the first half but had difficulty putting shots on frame and creating quality chances.
Early in the second half, both teams had excellent chances to score. Canada’s opportunity came first as Stephen Eustaquio fed Richie Laryea, who was free on the left side of the box.
Laryea’s right-footed shot beat a diving Vasilj, but Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Kolasinac kicked the ball in desperation. It went off the crossbar and caromed high to safety.
Less than a minute later, Ermedin Demirovic broke free and ran down a throughball, but Crepeau bolted from the goal area and disrupted Demirovic’s attempt with an aggressive slide.
Canada got the equalizer as Promise David flicked a pass forward to Larin, who was just inside the middle of the box.
Larin, who had been subbed on just two minutes earlier, spun and fired a right-footed blast into the lower right corner.
In the final minute of stoppage time, Canada got one last try as Laryea found Larin in the middle of the box but as he shot, defender Tarik Muharemovic smothered the attempt and cleared it from the box.
–Field Level Media
