Canada and Bosnia raise the curtain in Group B

One of the World Cup co-hosts, Canada, and Bosnia and Herzegovina kick off the battle in Group B of the tournament. The two sides face each other tonight at 22:00 Bulgarian time at the stadium in Toronto. Qatar and Switzerland are the other teams in the group. A World Cup opening ceremony on Canadian soil will take place before the match.

For the Maple Leafs, this is their second consecutive appearance at a World Cup — and third overall — having also featured at the tournament in Qatar four years ago. The European side are appearing at the biggest stage for the second time in their history, having previously been at the 2014 World Cup, where they even managed to claim a victory.

Canada will definitely be without two key players — Alphonso Davies and Moise Bombito — who have not fully recovered from injuries. Bosnia's Haris Tabakovic is also out through injury. Much anticipation surrounds a possible appearance from 40-year-old Balkan star Edin Dzeko, one of only two players remaining in the squad from the Brazil finals. The other is former Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac.

Canada go into this match on the back of a solid run of two wins and three draws in their last five games, scoring six goals and conceding three. They drew with Éire (1-1), beat Uzbekistan (2-0) and drew with Tunisia (0-0), having previously drawn with Iceland (2-2) and edged Guatemala (1-0).

Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the other hand, have shown remarkable consistency, registering five consecutive draws with a combined goal difference of 4-4. Their recent results include draws against Panama (1-1), North Macedonia (0-0), Italy (1-1), Wales (1-1) and Austria (1-1).