Canada raced to nine corners in the first half of their opening match against Bosnia and are likely to win another high count in this regard against a Qatar side they will expect to dominate. Jesse Marsch’s side want to impose themselves on their opponents in every game and they do this by attacking down the flanks. It has consistently won them a huge corner count in recent games. Across the six matches they have played this year, they have never dipped below seven corners, while they have topped out at 12 on two occasions and average 9.5 per game in that sample.

Qatar are a side that habitually pick up multiple bookings per match, as shown against Switzerland in their first game as they picked up a couple. That continued a remarkable streak in which the Gulf nation have earned 2+ cards in 14 of their last 16 competitive matches.

They landed this bet in both their fourth round qualifiers and in eight of their 10 third-round games. The only fixtures that they did not were the blowout defeat (4-1) against Iran and the easy win (5-1) over North Korea. With Canada of the mindset that they will take the game to their opponents, and are likely to have direct runners in possession, the referee will be presented with plenty of opportunities to show his cards. Referee Cristian Garay averages 4.86 cards per game this season.

The Canadian right back mustered one shot against Bosnia in the opening match and stands a strong chance of replicating that feat in this game. Johnston will face a scenario familiar to him at club level with Celtic, where he often faces low defensive blocks.

In Scotland this season, he had at least one shot in four of his six starts for the Glasgow side, in which he completed 35 or more minutes, including three of his last four games. He will be encouraged to attack, too, with both full backs getting forward an aspect of Marsch’s attacking philosophy. During the previous World Cup, he had a shot in two of Canada’s three matches. There is a slim chance that the ultra-attack-minded Alphonso Davies is fit enough to replace him and get a few late minutes.

The Celtic right back is the type of player who is ever involved in the thick of the action, and that means putting up a high foul count. He has made at least one foul in each of his last six competitive international starts, including a couple against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the opening match of the tournament.

His likely head-to-head opponent is Akram Afif, who has won 1+ fouls in 36 of the 38 competitive international matches where fouls data is available, including winning two fouls in each of his last three games.