The Canadian men's national team booked their trip to the Qatar 2022 World Cup with a 4-0 win over Jamaica at BMO Field on Sunday afternoon – though the margin of victory could have been a lot greater given all the chances Canada engineered.
Here's a look at the player ratings for this momentous win, which booked Les Rouges' first World Cup ticket since 1986 as they remain atop the Concacaf Octagonal standings after Matchday 13.
Canada Men's National Team Player Ratings
The typically solid Canadian goalkeeper was tested some in the first half, but enjoyed a relatively quiet second half to finish the day with a comfortable clean sheet.
Adekugbe was deadly down the left flank from the opening to the final whistle, creating much of the energy that put Jamaica on their heels in the first phase of the match. He also sent in the ball that led to Mariappa's own goal in the closing minutes.
Kennedy was serviceable on the day, and while his distribution wasn't as good as it could have been on the whole, he helped anchor a clean sheet.
Laryea wasn't quite the crossing machine that he was in the previous Canada match, but he did well enough to trouble Jamaica in his just-over-an-hour stint and won half his duels to contribute on the defensive end.
Hoilett was massive in the midfield throughout the match, getting the exclamation point goal late to add to the festivities while creating matchup issues for Jamaica on both offense and defense.
Eustáquio brought calm and class to the midfield, putting in a perfect pass to assist Larin's opener, and compiled more than a 90% passing rate, engineering much of Canada's positive play in his 70 minutes on the field.
Compared to his teammates, Osorio had a relatively anonymous day. Still, the Toronto FC midfielder put together a solid shift and as evinced in his post-match comments, showed himself to be one of the team's essential emotional leaders.
Buchanan scored a peach of a poacher's goal to double Canada's lead before halftime, and though the former New England winger certainly had other chances that he could have done better to finish, he contributed to Canada's pressure throughout the match – even forcing the issue late in the game when another goal just constituted piling on.
While David was definitely present in the attack, he couldn't get on target with either of his shot attempts. While he also didn't officially get credited with an assist, his pass on a set piece's second look was well-placed enough to bounce off a Jamaican defender to Buchanan for the second goal. He went just 50/50 in his duels for the day but topped all Canadian players with 14.
Larin added to his Concacaf-leading goal total in the 13th minute with what would turn out to be the goal that delivered Canada to the World Cup, and created headaches for the Reggae Boyz' backline throughout the match. He had additional chances to pad the lead that he couldn't convert, but made the impact that you want a starting No. 9 to make in a high-stakes game.
The extremely motivational Herdman was relatively sanguine on the sidelines Sunday, but set a solid lineup, used his subs well and got Les Rouges to Mission Accomplished, with the chance to be the top-rated team out of Concacaf when they play an otherwise no-stakes match on Wednesday.
Substitutes
While Cavallini wasn't as potent as other attackers on the day, the Vancouver Whitecaps man did get himself on the end of two on-target attempts that forced Andre Blake into saves, ably taking the baton from Larin to close out the match.
Johnston wasn't out for long enough to make much of an impact, subbing on at a time in which Jamaica's offense was largely spent.
The veteran's biggest moment was getting the captain's armband from Borjan when he subbed on.
Fraser did well to create chances and win duels in his limited minutes on the field, building his case for being a depth player to bring to Qatar with a generally good showing.
Like Johnston, Miller came on as a late defensive sub at a point where the defense didn't have as much to do.
