MIAMI, Florida – The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar kicked off on Sunday with 32 teams in pursuit of lifting the trophy and proclaiming themselves world champions.

Each of the four Concacaf teams in the tournament boast a special kind of player who is capable of making a play that can change the course of a game and swing things in their team’s favor.

For Canada, that player is Jonathan David.

When it comes to scoring goals, it would be hard to find a more prolific striker than the 22-year-old who plays for French side Lille. In 34 games with Canada, Jonathan David has an astounding 22 goals, quickly becoming the country’s second-leading all-time goalscorer behind current teammate Cyle Larin (25).

After a 2018 in which he tallied three goals in three games, David’s big breakout moment came in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup when he finished as the tournament’s top scorer with six goals in just four games, earning a nod in the tournament’s Best XI.

He finished the year with eight goals in nine games and would go on to add another seven goals in 12 games in 2021 and four goals in 10 matches in 2022.

In Concacaf World Cup Qualifying for Qatar 2022, only Larin (13) had more goals than David, who found the back of the net nine times across the three rounds, including five in the decisive Final Round.

Concacaf Nations League play has also proven to be fertile ground for David, with a pair of goals in eight CNL matches, plus four goals in four games during CNL Qualifying in 2018-19.

Fans who have been tracking David since his youth national team days know that his scoring exploits are nothing new. He scored two goals in three matches in the 2017 Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship in Panama.

It is a similar story at club level, too. Prior to his move to Lille, David finished the 2019-20 Belgian Pro-League as its top scorer with 18 goals with Gent. The following season in his first campaign with Lille, his 13 goals and three assists helped Lille claim the 2020-21 Ligue 1 crown.

That enabled Lille to qualify for the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League in which David finished as the team’s top scorer in the tournament with three goals in six games.

David has shown he can be a goal-scoring and game-changing force throughout his career, and now he has the opportunity to do it on football’s biggest stage.