It’s not often a country gets to celebrate a monumental first on the international sporting stage. It’s even less often that one gets to celebrate two in the span of about 30 minutes. In the first of those firsts, Canadians won the Davis Cup, known as the premier international team event in men’s tennis.
Winning at tennis
The Canadian team—which included World No. 6–ranked player Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 18–ranked Denis Shapovalov—beat Australia in the final to claim the coveted trophy, making Canada the 2022 champion.
The tournament has existed since 1900. Canada had appeared in the final just once before, in 2019.
Getting goals at FIFA
About 30 minutes after that historic victory, Canada's senior men’s soccer team scored a goal against Croatia at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The goal was scored by Alphonso Davies, and it was the first ever scored by Canada’s mens’ team at the FIFA World Cup. The team had appeared at the World Cup just once before in 1986, but had failed to notch a goal in three games versus France, Hungary, and the Soviet Union.
The Canadian men eventually lost to Croatia 4–1, meaning they will not advance past the group stage at the FIFA World Cup. But it was still a great day for the team and all Canadian sports fans.