When FIFA expanded the World Cup field from 32 to 48 teams for this summer’s tournament, the gnashing of teeth and clutching of pearls was as predictable as it was loud. The field would be watered down, the traditionalists protested. The group stage would be a series of blowouts, the sharks would devour the minnows.
In fact, none of that happened.
What we got instead was plucky Cape Verde playing No. 3 Spain to a draw and becoming the smallest nation to reach the elimination rounds. We got Austria advancing on a goal six minutes into stoppage time — eliminating unbeaten Iran, which deserved better — and Canada, Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo all winning World Cup games for the first time.
We got Lionel Messi scoring six goals and Mexico and Spain giving up none. We got South Africa, Canada, Egypt and Cape Verde advancing to the knockout rounds for the first time while South Korea and Uruguay went home.
It was one of the most surprising, exciting and compelling group stages in recent World Cup history. And on Sunday it gave way to the first game of the knockout rounds, with Canada beating South Africa 1-0 on a goal by LAFC midfielder Stephen Eustáquio in the second minute of stoppage time.
Canada’s Stephen Eustáquio reacts after a 1-0 win over South Africa at the World Cup on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
For both nations the game was historic. But only Canada was celebrating afterward; the country has now won a World Cup elimination game more recently than a Stanley Cup.
“It’s one of those moments that you’ll never forget where you were,” defender Alistair Johnston said. “We know that this is not only writing history in Canadian soccer, but in Canadian sport. It’s magical when you think about it.”
Unlike much of the group stage, Sunday’s game was a sloppy, sleepy affair, with South Africa relying on some heroic play from its back line to keep the game even. But it ended with a bang, with Eustáquio latching on to a loose ball at top of the box and blasting a right-footed volley just inside the left post.
Canada will play the winner of Monday’s Netherlands-Morocco match in the round of 16 next week. For South Africa, the World Cup is over.
“Obviously, we’re heroes right now for the country, because this is the first time we ever won a knockout-round game,” Eustáquio said. “At the same time, we know that we still have a lot of work to do. We don’t want to be on the moon right now. We have to be humble. In six days we have a very tough team.
“But at the same time, I think today we have to enjoy the fact that, you know, we made everybody back home proud.”
Even before Sunday this World Cup was the most successful ever for Canada and South Africa. Canada, which is sharing host duties with Mexico and the U.S., won twice in group play.
South Africa had won games before, but it had never gotten beyond the group stage.
And for South Africa, that success is part of a continental soccer resurgence. Four years ago in Qatar, Morocco became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semifinals. This summer, thanks to the expanded field, 10 African nations qualified for the tournament and nine advanced to the round of 32.
“African football has been growing,” midfielder Teboho Mokoena said. “So we can be proud of Africa for having such teams and competing at the highest level.”
And the rise of African soccer hasn’t just boosted the fortunes of African teams. Top-ranked France, a World Cup favorite, has 21 players of African descent on its roster; at least a dozen other non-African teams, including Canada, have at least two.
Canada is one of the world’s most diverse countries with nearly a quarter of its population having been born somewhere else. Former coach John Herdman leaned into that diversity when he took over the men’s team in 2018; four years later, Canada made its second trip to the World Cup with a lineup that included four dual nationals.
Jesse Marsch, the U.S.-born coach who succeeded Herdman, doubled down on that. As a result, the 26 players on Canada’s roster, or their parents, come from more than 17 countries — from Iran, Croatia, Jamaica and Barbados to Haiti, Lebanon, Nigeria and the Philippines. Captain Alphonso Davies, Canada’s best player, was born to Liberian parents in a refugee camp in Ghana before being resettled in Edmonton, becoming a citizen in 2017.
Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau makes a save against South Africa on Sunday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
“As a team we’ve done well, so more opportunities have opened up for guys,” said goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, who parents are Trinidadian and Scottish Canadian. “Our goal is to continue to do well, to make sure that those opportunities keep coming. People don’t turn their head because someone’s Canadian.”
Davies, who hasn’t played since sustained an acute hamstring injury in early May, came on in the 76th minute Sunday and had an immediate influence, immediately opening up the game and creating two scoring chances.
“When Alfonso comes in, it’s a big boost for the team,” Eustáquio said. “Obviously, he’s the best player we have on our team.”
However, Canada’s goal came from Eustáquio, the son of Portuguese parents who Herdman wooed away from that country’s U-21 team in 2019. The play started with LAFC teammate Jacob Shaffelburg bending a cross into the middle of the box, where South African center back Ime Okon tried to head to clear. But the ball caromed instead to Eustáquio, who chested it down, then one-hopped a volley inside the far post.
Canada’s Tani Oluwaseyi, center, gets caught between South Africa’s Khuliso Mudau (20) and Sphephelo Sithole during the first half Sunday.
(Kelvin Kuo / Los Angeles Times)
At the final whistle, the Canadian bench rushed the field while many of the South African players dropped to the grass in exhaustion and disappointment. About 90 minutes later South African coach Hugo Broos said they had nothing to be sorry for.
“I think it’s a success,” he said of their tournament performance. “Nobody expected, only hoped that we should be in the second round. I’m still proud of my team.
“We did very well in this World Cup, even though we are now out of the tournament.”
Sports editor Iliana Limón Romero contributed to this report.
