Canada look to set the tone against Qatar as pressure mounts on co-hosts

All four teams ‌in the group - Canada, Qatar, Switzerland and Bosnia & Herzegovina - have one point, one goal scored ‌and one conceded ahead of Thursday's games, with the Swiss ‌taking on Bosnia & Herzegovina ahead of Canada's clash with Qatar.

"We know that, given ‌our group being so tight right now, that every moment and ‌every point matters, and we're focused on that," Canada coach Jesse Marsch told a media conference on the eve of the game.

"We're not trying to be overly magnanimous, ‌we're just focused on the match and about ⁠Qatar and what they're good ‌at, and what we want to try to limit from them, and how we ​want the game to look.

"I think we felt like, specifically in the first half against Bosnia, that the game looked ​more like what they wanted it to look like than what we wanted it to look like, and so we have to make sure ⁠that from the beginning ​we set the tone and we play the kind of match that favours us from the start, so we will, we will be looking to establish that early in the match."

After several days of secrecy surrounding the health ‌of Alphonso Davies, Marsch said that the left-side player was fit and ready to go.

"He's been in training this week, and he'll be available tomorrow, and we'll see how the match goes, and then make a decision on how we would choose to use him," he said.

Having kicked off their campaign in Toronto, the Canada squad decamped to the west coast and the National Soccer Development Centre, and Marsch is looking forward to playing in front of a packed house at BC Place.

"I ‌know this is a football town, Vancouver. We've seen it many ​times before, and we expect this place to be rocking, man. ‌I mean, red everywhere, rocking, supporting these guys, supporting their players, their team, their country," he enthused.

"Like, these guys will be ready to perform, and we want to make sure that Qatar feels not just the team, but the crowd. So show up, be ⁠loud, use the echo in the ⁠stadium, and make sure that ‌we have a 12th man in the stadium."