Jesse Marsch’s side began the game brightly but the wind was taken out of their sails after 21 minutes when Jovo Lukic headed Bosnia in front from a corner after Ivan Basic’s delivery was flicked on at the near post by Sead Kolasinac.
Canada pushed hard to find an equaliser but struggled in the final third until substitute Cyle Larin fired home just 121 seconds after coming on.
Larin did have a chance to bag a dramatic winner in added time but was denied by an excellent block from Tarik Muharemovic.
It was a historic result for Canada as they managed to avoid defeat at the World Cup for the first time in their history, but they will be disappointed not to have picked up a first win.
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Canada were without their captain and key player against Bosnia, with Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies missing the game due to a hamstring injury he suffered back in May.
Marsch said ahead of the game that Davies was healing incredibly well and they are ready to ramp things up with his recovery.
Canada will be hoping Davies is fit in time to feature in their second group game against Qatar next week and his quality was sorely missed against Bosnia, with Les Rouges struggling to make their dominance in possession count until the late equaliser.
As Marsch himself pointed out after the game Canada were tentative and lacked intensity until he made changes in the second half, and Davies would surely have made a major difference if he was available.
Despite not winning Canada are well placed to qualify for the knockouts and the potential return of their captain next week would be a major boost.
There was some debate ahead of the game over whether Cyle Larin should start, with the forward coming into the World Cup off the back of an outstanding end to the season with Southampton.
Larin netted six goals in his last eight Championship games for the Saints and made an immediate impact when he replaced Tani Oluwaseyi in the 76th minute.
Just over two minutes after coming on Larin received the ball from Promise David, spun past Tarik Muharemovic, and found the back of the net.
Despite being aided by a deflection it was smart play from the 31 year old and much needed after the likes of Oluwaseyi and Jonathan David both missed golden opportunities.
Given he is the man in form and the two strikers who started ahead of him failed to make much of an impact Larin surely has to start against Qatar.
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