SURABAYA, Indonesia –
Canada was eliminated from the FIFA U-17 World Cup on Thursday with a 5-1 loss to Mali, its third straight loss.
The loss dropped the Canadian men’s record to 0-20-4 in eight tournament appearances. Canada also went 0-3-0 in 2019, the last time the competition was held (the 2021 edition was canceled due to the pandemic).
Canada scored just 11 goals in the tournament – one of which was an Argentine own goal – and conceded 70 goals.
The Canadians began Group B play with a 2-0 loss to Spain before losing 3-0 to Uzbekistan.
Mali took a 2-0 lead with goals from Ibrahim Diarra (14th minute) and Mahamoud Barry (26th) before Richard Chukwu scored Canada’s first goal of the tournament in the 45th minute. The Africans extended their lead late in the game with goals from Ibrahim Kanate (73′), Hamidou Makalou (77′) and Ousmane Thiero (91′).
Mali beat Canada 30-6 (17-2 on shots on goal) and had 55 percent possession.
“Tonight we tried to win against a really good team,” Canada coach Andrew Olivieri said. “We are not happy about the defeat, but we can look at all three games and learn in different ways, be it through effort, fight or quality. That’s the standard they have to meet and it’s just the baseline.”
“Some of these boys will progress to the next round with the U-20s. We know they are good enough to shine at this level. That’s why it’s important that they grow from this experience.”
Mali was beaten by Nigeria in the 2015 final and finished fourth in 2017.
Spain (2-0-1, seven points) drew 2-2 with Uzbekistan (1-1-1, four points) on Thursday to finish at the top of Group B. Mali (2-1-0, six points ) finished second and Canada (0-3-0, zero points) fourth.
The two best teams in each of the six first-round groups and the four best third-place teams advance to the knockout round.
The Canadians qualified by reaching the Final Four of the CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Guatemala in February, losing 2-0 in the semifinals to eventual runners-up the Americans. Mexico won the CONCACAF title, and Panama also qualified for the FIFA show.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 16, 2023
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