Belgium saw off a determined Canada by the skin of their teeth to edge an opening World Cup victory.
Canada - playing in their first World Cup finals match for 36 years - flew out of the box against a creaking Belgian back line, and saw Alphonso Davies' penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois after 10 minutes.
The Canadians kept coming, but with a lack of quality letting them down in attack, they were punished when Michy Batshuayi latched on to Toby Alderweireld's ball to score shortly before half-time.
Canada again kept coming in the second period, but after Jonathan David flashed a header wide an underwhelming Belgium were able to hang on.
Here are the game's talking points.
1. Canada's fast start goes unrewarded
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28569727.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_GettyImages-1245028325.jpg)
Starting with Jan Vertonghen and Alderweireld as part of a back three is something that Belgium could have done at any point of the past decade-and-a-half, but is it a good idea in 2022?
Against a vibrant, youthful and pumped up Canada probably not.
In this their first World Cup game since 1986, the Canadians were quick out of the blocks and really troubled the former Tottenham pair, who these days have a combined age of 68.
They weren't the only ones at fault, and Roberto Martinez must have a real concern about the lack of pace and dynamism in his sluggish team, but Belgium weren't helped by inviting the confident Canadians onto them, and they were lucky not to be behind in the early stages.
2. Thibaut Courtois to the rescue again
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28569588.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_GettyImages-1443951065.jpg)
Of course you can afford to make slow starts when you've got Courtois in goal.
The self-proclaimed best goalkeeper in the world might feel that he doesn't get the credit of some of his contemporaries, but after being voted the best stopper at the 2018 World Cup, he's certainly entered a golden period of his career.
Last season's Champions League final was another example of that, and after a fine start to the season for Real Madrid here he was on the global stage delivering yet again.
There were just 10 minutes on the clock when Davies - the shining light of this glowing Canada team - stepped up, and while it wasn't a great kick you can't help but presume that Courtois got in his head before he took it.
That's what the best keepers do, and he's one of them.
3. The curious case of Michy Batshuayi
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28569790.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_GettyImages-1245029251.jpg)
His was a name that stood out on the teamsheet, because it often does in truth.
Batshuayi will be 30 next year, but his remains a curiously unfulfilled career featuring five separate loans from Chelsea before a permanent transfer to Fenerbahce last summer.
He scores goals though. He's got eight in 13 in Turkey, and here was a 27th for Belgium, placing him behind only Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard in the current squad.
You can see why Roberto Martinez picks him with a record like that, and he's a valuable player to have around with Lukaku's fitness a concern at this tournament.
4. Kevin De Bruyne doesn't look like Kevin De Bruyne
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28569875.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_GettyImages-1245029086.jpg)
He's been one of the players most vociferous about the idea of burnout in the lead up to this tournament, and Kevin De Bruyne certainly wasn't himself for the vast majority of this match.
At one stage we saw the scarcely seen sight of De Bruyne picking the wrong option when he sprang forward on the attack, choosing to go left to Hazard and not right to the unmarked Youri Tielemans.
That pretty much summed up his night, with several wayward balls and a frustration seen as Canada broke on the Belgians again and again.
He'll hope that this was just a warm-up for his tournament, but it wasn't a smooth one.
5. Perspiration doesn't equal points for Canada
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28569976.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_GettyImages-1443958239.jpg)
The Canadians can be proud of their efforts here, but ultimately they came up short due to a lack of quality and composure in front of goal.
We saw that with Davies' missed penalty, a moment which probably came a bit too early in the game for him, and the rest of his teammates also snatched at chances when they were presented to them.
On the plus side though, anyone who saw Morocco's clash with Croatia earlier in the day can say that they Canada a chance of progression here.