Jonathan David could have been Julen Lopetegui’s marquee signing at West Ham United. Instead, two years on, Canada’s hat-trick hero is the man who put the former Hammers boss on the brink of World Cup elimination.
In what would have been a storybook evening if not for the horrific injury suffered by midfield dynamo Ismael Kone, Canada ran riot in Vancouver to secure their first ever victory on the world stage.
The eventual 6-0 scoreline not only puts Jesse Marsch’s co-hosts within touching distance of a last-32 spot, it also leaves Qatar on the brink of an early, and rather humiliating, elimination.
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Julen Lopetegui, the man who coached West Ham United for a brief spell in 2024/25, does not have much luck at World Cups.
He was famously sacked by Spain on the eve of the 2018 tournament as punishment for holding talks with Real Madrid. As Jonathan David ran riot at BC Place six years on, Lopetegui saw his ramshackle Qatar become the 39th team in the tournament’s history to concede six or more goals in a World Cup match.
West Ham United wanted Jonathan David during the Julen Lopetegui era
According to Give Me Sport, West Ham planned to make David one of Lopetegui’s first signings after he took over from David Moyes two summers’ ago.
The New York-born marksman would instead opt to run down his contract at Lille before joining Juventus on a free transfer. The Hammers, meanwhile, plumped for Niclas Fullkrug.
It is certainly hard to imagine Fullkrug displaying the sort of awareness, composure and dead-eyed brutality David demonstrated as his hat-trick left Lopetegui reeling.
David has struggled in Serie A with Juventus. This, though, was the sort of performance which reminds you how he managed to score 109 goals in just 232 games at Lille.
“I said, ‘Buckle up.’ I hope you guys had your seat belts on today, because that’s a player, that’s a striker. That’s a goal scorer,” a delighted Marsch told reporters after David became the second player to score a hat-trick at the 2026 World Cup, after Lionel Messi.
“I never had any doubts in Johnny. And the one thing I said for us to really be successful as a team, we need Johnny driving what we do in the attacking part of the pitch.
“I thought he was fantastic.”
Lopetegui suffers one of the biggest-ever World Cup defeats
Interestingly, West Ham were linked with Promise David – a fellow Canada international and Jonny’s Belgium-based namesake – in January.
Should Qatar suffer a similarly heavy defeat against Bosnia in their final matchday, Lopetegui might have as many World Cup sackings under his belt as Canada have strikers named David.
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“It was a tough match for several reasons. We faced a very difficult opponent, conceded an early goal, and then a red card, which was a turning point in the game,” sighed Lopetegui, who saw his side go down to nine eventually while engaging in a rather unseemly touchline spat with his opposite number.
“The first red card and the third goal decided the match, but that’s football. Now we need to recover the players physically, mentally, and psychologically.
“In the World Cup, every match is tougher than the last, but our presence in the World Cup was well-deserved and earned.
“There is no room for error in this match [against Bosnia]. It is the last match for us and for them. Now we need to recover because it was a tough match for several reasons.”
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