Süper Lig powerhouse Beşiktaş's Canadian forward Cyle Larin is leading his country from the front as the Canucks close in on a historic World Cup qualification.
Canada took a giant step toward its first World Cup qualification in 36 years Sunday after scoring an upset 2-0 victory over archrival the United States in CONCACAF qualifiers.
It was once again Larin who inspired his side with a goal just seven minutes from kick off.
An injury-time effort from another Turkey-based player, Hatayspor's Sam Adekugbe secured all three points for the Canadians to extend the home side's lead at the top of the CONCACAF standings.
The unbeaten Canadians now have 22 points from four games with four fixtures remaining, pulling four points clear of the USA, which is second with 18 points.
The United States, aiming to atone for its shock failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, dominated possession and territory Sunday but fell behind after a defensive lapse that allowed Larin to fire the hosts into the lead.
A Matt Turner goal kick was won by Kamal David who headed forward.
Larin gathered all too easily just outside the U.S. penalty area and played a neat one-two with Lille forward Jonathan David before brushing off U.S. defender Miles Robinson and rifling a finish past Turner.
The strike also made him the highest goalscorer in the history of the Canada national team with 23 goals in 46 matches. He overtook compatriot Dwayne De Rosario, who scored 22 goals in 81 appearances for Canada between 1998-2015.
Out of Larin's 23 goals, 12 came in 12 matches in the ongoing Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, including a hat trick against Bermuda and braces against Haiti and Mexico.
His prolific scoring has made Canada the surprise package from the Central America, North America and the Caribbean qualifying region, and is now firmly on course for only its second trip to the World Cup after reaching the Mexico finals in 1986.
The top three sides in the eight-team round-robin table qualify automatically for this year's finals in Qatar.