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The energy and enthusiasm were at high levels on Wednesday afternoon in Vancouver as fans stomped their way through Expo Boulevard en route to the stadium.

There have been some memorable crowd marches to the stadium so far during this World Cup—Turkiye fans taking over Quebec Street and Qataris in full-length robes mobbing through downtown Vancouver on Lime scooters comes to mind—but I’m not sure there has been anything like the sheer insanity and exuberation that occurred around BC Place before Canada took on Switzerland in its final group stage match. 

Canada held its own as an underdog 

The game was scoreless at half as Canada relentlessly pursued the ball and the Swiss committed fouls on attacking Canadian players (some of which weren’t called, it must be said). It felt Canada carried the bulk of the play for the first half and were threatening for a goal, even as Switzerland had the best scoring chance on an up-close shot from Breel Embolo on Canadian keeper Maxime Crépeau. 

In the end, defence was a problem

Switzerland scored a goal right out of the break and then capitalized again shortly after. Canada’s defence (which was playing without captain Alphonso Davies, of course) was a tad leaky. Vancouver-born Alistair Johnston was quite solid, but Olympique de Marseille centreback Derek Cornelius had a tough afternoon. 

It must also be said that, while he was solid for most of the match, the second goal is one that former Whitecaps goalie Crépeau would probably like to have back. 

The biggest lineup of the day 

It wasn’t the beer lines or the washroom queue (although… wow, that was something); it actually happened far from the stadium on Main and Broadway, where scores of people were lined up at the gold exchange on the northeast corner. The reason? This, apparently. The line snaked all the way down to the intersection of Main and Kingsway. 

The Alphonso Davies question

The way that Team Canada coach Jesse Marsch was talking about it, it sure seemed like Davies would sub on at some point. But when push came to shove and Canada desperately needed something, anything, to even the score and force a tie, Davies didn’t come in.

The truth, said Marsch after the game, was that Davies still wasn’t ready to play due to injury and that he was willfully misleading the opposition squad. The honesty was refreshing and a departure from the usual coach speak we get from NHL bench bosses.

The nicest assist of the tournament?

Nathan Saliba was subbed on late in the match and made a beautiful run and then two perfect touches on the ball for a backdoor feed to a wide-open Promise David for Canada’s only goal of the night. It was truly magical. 

Some Canadians might be setting themselves up for hefty transfer fees

Saliba, as well as Johnston and former Whitecap Ali Ahmed, have all impressed mightily in this tournament, and all may be looking at some new opportunities when the World Cup is over. All three play in lower leagues—Saliba in the Belgian Pro League, Johnston in the Scottish Premiership, and Ahmed in England’s second-tier league. 

It wouldn’t be shocking to see all three level up in the coming months or years. 

Koné’s return was heartwarming

Canadian midfielder Ismaël Koné was badly injured in his team’s last match against Qatar—for a tackle that earned Assim Madibo a five-match suspension, no less. 

But as Team Canada came out onto the field for warmups, Koné followed his teammates in a wheelchair, eliciting huge reactions from the crowd. 

Switzerland wearing red was just weird

Speaking of which, the crowd, on both sides, was great, even if it was hard to tell who was who.

Yes, both countries having red and white as their primary colours was a problem. But it felt weird that Switzerland was wearing red given that a sweeping majority of Canadian fans were also, of course, in red. And Canada was, of course, at home. Strange one. 

The atmosphere after the game was solemn

It was tough in the crowd after the game. Certainly, it was nothing like the victorious mob after Canada beat Qatar 6-0. No, this was solemn. No cheers, no chants. Just the air of missed opportunity.

The real bummer came with the stakes: if Canada had been able to beat Switzerland, or even draw with them, it would stay in Vancouver for its Round of 32 match (and its Round of 16 match if it got that far). It would also accumulate rest days. 

Neither of those things happened, and now Canada will play on Sunday in L.A.

But then… a silver lining?

Because of South Africa’s stunning 1-0 upset of South Korea, Canada will now play the former in the Round of 32 and will likely be favoured. That’s potentially a better matchup than Canada would see otherwise. So yeah, while it will kind of suck having to watch Switzerland play in Vancouver against Egypt or Iran, it might have actually worked out OK. One of the watch parties will do if it means a Canada win, right?