Despite four days of soul searching, Canada suffered another disappointing result at the FIFA U-20 World Cup tournament.

Forward Robin Okotie's goal early in the second half lifted Austria to a 1-0 victory over Canada Thursday night at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton — the second straight devastating loss for the Canadians, who were embarrassed 3-0 on Canada Day by Chile and remain in the basement of Group A.

Canada's David Edgar reacts to a 1-0 loss against Austria at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Edmonton on Thursday night.
(Jason Scott/Canadian Press)

The top two teams in each of the six opening-round groups — and the four best third-place teams — move on to the second round, which means Canada needs to at least earn a victory against Congo (CBC, 7:30 p.m. ET) on Sunday to have a shot at advancing.

"We will prepare ourselves for the Congo game and do everything we can to win it and see where we stand after that," said Canadian coach Dale Mitchell. "There has been a lot of expectation heaped on these boys and they have given a lot of time and effort into getting themselves ready to play at this level."

The Austrians, playing in the U-20 World Cup for the first time in 24 years, earned their first victory at the tourney in team history.

"I am still full of emotion and it is hard for me to find the words to analyze this game," said Austria coach Paul Gludovatz. "We had some problems at the beginning and we didn't really play for the first 25 minutes but later we were much better."

After a listless first 45 minutes by both teams on the warm Edmonton field, the Austrians took the play to Canada early in the second half, leading to the lone goal of the match in the 47th minute.

Okotie leaped over two Canadian defenders and headed the ball off a corner kick behind goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

"This was the highlight of my career and now everything is possible at this tournament," said an elated Okotie. "I only knew that I would play on the morning of the game and it was a good response after the chance I wasted in the first match."

Okotie was alluding to a missed opportunity against Congo in extra time that would've sealed a victory for Austria. However, his pass went behind teammate Michael Madl, who slipped before he could get a clear shot on net.

His goal was more than enough offence for Austria as Canada could only register one shot against goalie Andreas Lukse.

The Canadians, who called a players-only meeting after the loss to Chile, almost caught Austria by surprise minutes later on a free kick.

Midfielder Keegan Ayre drove a shot from the right side of the field near the far post, but Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault's header attempt bounced underneath the crossbar and away.

Canada came close at end

It appeared Canada would steal a point in the waning moments of the contest when midfielder Simeon Jackson slipped behind the Austrian defence following a long free kick, only to push the ball wide in the third minute of extra time.

Lukse raced out of his net the moment he saw Jackson alone in the penalty area to force a difficult attempt.

"My miss was really disappointing because that one could have got us the equalizer," said a dejected Jackson. "I saw the goalkeeper coming out and I tried to get it round him but I placed it wide."

Madl can sympathize with Jackson's disappointment.

"The chance Canada missed at the end was the same as the one I missed against Congo, so we had a little bit of fortune there. I didn't even realize what was happening," he said.

Canadian defender Stephen Lumley left the game in the 23rd minute after getting hit in the back by Okotie and was replaced by Michael D'Agostino.

The first chance of the opening half belonged to Austria in the 31st minute. Forward Erwin Hoffer's shot just outside the penalty area went off a Canadian defender, but Begovic was equal to the task, making a diving save to thwart the effort.

Austria continued to attack six minutes later as midfielder Bernhard Morgenthaler was sent in on a partial break. However, D'Agostino made a sliding stop against Morgenthaler, sending the ball out of bounds.

The Canadians will be without defender Kent O'Connor for their match against Congo after he received his second yellow card of the tournament in the 85th minute, drawing an automatic suspension for the upcoming contest.

Skilful Chileans crush Congo

Chile secured a spot in the second round with a 3-0 win over Congo on Thursday.

Forwards Alexis Sanchez, Nicolas Medina and Arturo Vidal supplied the offence for the skilful Chileans in Edmonton.

Chile now leads Group A with six points, two ahead of Austria.

With the Chileans controlling the play, Sanchez worked his way to the middle of the field and surprised Congo goalkeeper Destin Onka with a right-footed drive in the 58th minute.

Medina put the game away in 75th minute after completing a nifty passing play with Sanchez. The forward broke free to his left and beat Onka to the far side of the Congo net.

Vidal added an insurance goal seven minutes later with a shot just outside the Congo penalty area that sailed over Onka.

Chile finishes its first round with a game against Austria on Sunday night (Country Canada, 8 p.m. ET) in Toronto. The winner of that match will clinch first place in the group.