Jonathan David scored a hat-trick as co-hosts Canada claimed their first-ever World Cup win in style, with a 6-0 thrashing over nine-man Qatar on Thursday.
The Canadians started the home tournament with a 1-1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina but bounced back in the best possible way.
They led 2-0 by the half-hour mark thanks to goals from Cyle Larin and Jonathan David.
Qatar had their first player sent off in the 33rd minute. Homam Ahmed tripped Tajon Buchanan and the referee initially awarded Canada a penalty.
After video review the decision was overturned, while Ahmed's yellow card was upgraded to a red.
Before the break, David scored his second to give Canada a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Things were looking great for the co-hosts but there was a scary scene in the 52nd. Ismael Koné went down after a challenge with Assim Madibo. He was conscious but had to be carried out on a stretcher, while Madibo received a red card.
From then on, things got even easier for Canada. Nathan Saliba in the 64th and Mohamed Manai's own goal in the 75th sealed the win before David completed his hat-trick in stoppage time to crown a fantastic day in Vancouver.
"We wanted to play that kind of football, to electrify the crowd. We wanted to showcase the kind of talent, the mentality that we had," coach Jesse Marsch said.
"There's going to be four million Canadians who will claim they were at the stadium today. But these 55,000 thousand here were lucky."
Canada had previously competed in the World Cup in 1986 and 2022, only scoring two goals in all of their matches combined.
Canada now top Group B on goal difference but tied with Switzerland on four points. The Swiss team earlier defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-1.
Six-goal showdown
The Canadians took the lead in the 16th minute. Alistair Johnston chipped in a beautiful ball into the box and David's attempt was denied by goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada. But Larin collected the rebound to tap in the opener.
David eventually got one himself after Buchanan's strike deflected up into the air and he picked it up to smash a volley into the net in the 29th.
Things got even better for Canada as Ahmed saw a red card four minutes later. The penalty decision was overturned after the referee checked the video and saw that the contact was actually outside the box.
David then had time to add a second to his name before half-time. Larin met Johnston's cross with a header but was denied by Abunada. David, however, was very well positioned, almost on the line, to take the rebound and head it in.
Things got tense after Koné went down in the 52nd, apparently with a serious injury. He left the pitch on a stretcher and putting his thumbs up to the fans.
The incident resulted in a red card for Madibo as Qatar went down to nine players.
The scare didn't slow down Canada and Saliba's fantastic free-kick hit the post before falling into the net in the 64th. He celebrated holding up a jersey with Koné's name and number on it.
Jacob Shaffelburg curled a shot towards goal in the 75th and it looked like it was set to go out, but Manai panicked and as he attempted to clear the shot, he ended up firing against his own target.
There was still time for David to complete his hat-trick. He controlled Saliba's effort and slotted the ball beyond the keeper in stoppage time.
He became the first player to score a World Cup hat-trick on home soil since England's Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final.
