From The Sports Desk: World Cup co-hosts Canada, Mexico both have reason to celebrate

World CupFrom The Sports Desk: World Cup co-hosts Canada, Mexico both have reason to celebrateMexico beat South Korea 1-0 and became the first team to clinch a spot in the round of 32, and Canada demolished Qatar 6-0 to record the nation’s first-ever World Cup win.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Jonathan David of Canada celebrates after scoring against Qatar in Vancouver on Thursday.Emma Ottosen / ISI Photos via Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 19, 2026, 11:00 AM EDTBy Mark HodgeThe co-hosts have had quite the World Cup so far. Yesterday, Canada routed Qatar and then Mexico outlasted South Korea. For Mexico, that win clinched a spot in the knockout round. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The U.S. men’s national team plays Australia this afternoon. Will Christian Pulisic play? What will the U.S. do for an encore after its big win over Paraguay? The NBC News sports crew will be live-blogging all the day’s games, so come hang with us!World Cup RecapCanada finally notched the country’s first World Cup win yesterday, in a 6-0 rout of Qatar after star striker Jonathan David netted three goals.The hapless Qataris were reduced to nine players because of red cards in the chaotic match. Ismaël Koné, one of Canada’s best players, was also stretched off with a serious leg injury.Prior to this year, Canada had only appeared in the tournament twice — in 2022 and in 1986. It had gone 0-6 in those World Cups and scored a total of two goals.The euphoria of scoring three goals in each half was somewhat blighted by the horrific injury to Koné. Broadcast images showed his lower left leg visibly broken. Qatari midfielder Assim Madibo was sent off for the offending tackle and appeared distraught before he was ejected.In the same group, Switzerland overpowered Bosnia-Herzegovina, 4-1, on a flurry of second-half goals. Both the Swiss and Canadians have all but secured their places in the knock...