Canada beats Haiti at Gold Cup to set up showdown with U.S.

• Canada 4 (Eustáquio 5’; Larin  51’, 74'; Hoilett 79’), Haiti 1 (Lambese 56’)
• Larin scores 10th goal of 2021 to set a new team record
• Akinola, Pasher earn their first caps for Canada

Polite-to-a-fault Canadians? John Herdman’s team took the infamous cliche a bit too far against Haiti at the Concacaf Gold Cup on Thursday evening.

A severely depleted Haitian side gave Canada a bit of a scare, but the Reds eventually came good in a 4-1 victory at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, KS. The win, coupled with the United States' 6-1 victory over Martinique on Thursday, means Canada has advanced to the quarter-finals.

Stephen Eustáquio and Junior Hoilett found the back of the net, while Cyle Larin bagged a brace for Canada. Larin now has 10 goals in eight games in 2021, setting a new team record for most goals by a men's team player in a calendar year. Larin has scored in seven contests this year and is riding a four-match scoring streak. Ayo Akinola and Tyler Pasher came on as second-half substitutes to earn their first caps for Canada.

Canada wraps up its first round against the U.S. on July 18 at Children's Mercy Park in a match that will decide first place in Group B. Both teams are 2-0-0 but Canada currently tops the group via the goals scored tiebreaker (eight vs. seven). The Canadians beat Martinique 4-1 in its tournament opener, and would only need a draw against the U.S. on Sunday to win Group B.