Key Points
- Canada beat South Africa 1-0 in the World Cup Round of 32 on June 28.
- Stephen Eustáquio scored the winner in the 92nd minute at SoFi Stadium.
- Captain Alphonso Davies made his tournament debut after a hamstring injury.
- Canada advances to face the Morocco-Netherlands winner on July 4 in Houston.
Co-host Canada is into the World Cup Round of 16. In the tournament's first knockout match, Canada beat South Africa 1-0 at SoFi Stadium on June 28, with Stephen Eustáquio burying a loose ball at the top of the box in the 92nd minute after a headed clearance fell to him. The win sends Canada to a Round of 16 meeting on July 4 in Houston against the winner of Monday's Morocco-Netherlands tie.
The match
The decisive moment came deep into stoppage time, but the bigger story for Canada was its captain: Alphonso Davies made his tournament debut off the bench after missing the entire group stage with a hamstring injury. His return gives head coach a healthy talisman heading into the knockout rounds for a side that had already routed Qatar 6-0 for its first-ever men's World Cup win during the group stage.
Why it matters
The read: Canada keeps making the case that it is no longer just hosting this World Cup — it is contending in it. A grinding 1-0 win is a different kind of result than a 6-0 rout, the sort of game good tournament teams find a way to win, and getting it with Davies back changes the team's ceiling. For South Africa, the night is the end of a historic run: Bafana Bafana were one of a record nine African nations to reach the knockouts, but they exit at the first hurdle, while the co-host that opened the tournament alongside the USMNT marches on.
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