KEY TAKEAWAYS: Eustáquio steps up as Davies finally returns from injury in CanMNT’s historic win vs. South Africa
It might not have been the way they drew it up, but they won’t care - after all, they always say that you’ll remember your first.
And certainly, the CanMNT won’t forget their first-ever knockout win at a men’s World Cup, especially when seeing the way that they had to fight for it on Sunday.
ROUND OF 16 BOUND FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!
— CANMNT (@CANMNT_Official) June 28, 2026
WE DID IT, CANADA!!! 🇨🇦 #CANMNT #OurGameNow pic.twitter.com/mL550A4w8u
Faced off against a stingy South Africa side, Canada left it late, but they eventually found a winner in the second minute of second-half stoppage time thanks to Stephen Eustáquio, who powered his side to a 1-0 victory in Los Angeles.
Now, Canada will advance to the Round of 16 of the men’s World Cup for the first time, where they’ll face either the Netherlands or Morocco in a fascinating clash on Saturday, July 4th in Houston.
Safe to say, it’s a dream outcome for this Canadian team. While this 2026 World Cup had been a relatively successful one for them up to this point, having earned their first point and then victory at a men’s World Cup, they knew how special it’d be if they were to add a first knockout win to that list of accomplishments.
Just how big of a moment is this win for Canadian soccer? 🤔🗣️#CanMNT pic.twitter.com/fvzangr0zp
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 29, 2026
And faced off against a South Africa side that was also playing in their first-ever knockout game, Canada knew that they might not get a better opportunity to do that than in this game. Therefore, while they’ll have been frustrated that they weren’t playing this match at home, they more than made up for that with this victory, which immediately became the biggest in the history of this men’s program.
With that, they can now say that this tournament was a resounding success for them. No matter what happens in their next match, they can look back at this moment and say that it was the ‘'statement victory' that they had long battled for.
At the same time, while it feels like Canada will be playing with house money heading into that Round of 16 clash, that’s not to mean that they can’t believe in their chances of winning that game, no matter if they face the Netherlands or Morocco. As this Canadian team has shown over the past few years, they can compete with anyone on their day, so why not head into that matchup with the idea that they can pull off a shock victory?
If anything, the big hurdle this Canadian side has faced in the past has been proving that they can rise to the occasion and not get in their own way in big games - in a sense, that’s why this South Africa win was so special for them, as they found a way to get the job done even on a day where they didn’t play their best. Typically, that’s a hallmark of a good team, and Canada showed signs of their own growth as a side by winning the way that they did.
At the end of the day, when it comes to knockout matches such as this one, they don’t ask ‘how’, they just ask if you got the job done - and Canada’s answer to that question can be an emphatic ‘yes’ after today.
With that in mind, here are your KEY takeaways from this one. 
Stephen Eustáquio steps up in a big way for Canada:
It just had to be Stephen Eustáquio.
Given his importance to this team, as he’s done a lot of underrated work for this side since committing to the Canadian program back in 2019, it’s hard to think of someone more deserving of the spotlight that this winning goal will give him both nationally and internationally than Eustáquio.
Despite a tough few years off the pitch, he’s continued to sacrifice a lot to play for Canada, answering the call whenever physically able to.
There’s a reason why he’s a key leader on this team, sitting as the team’s vice captain, and he proved it in this game.
Funnily enough, though, even had he not scored, you could make the argument that up until the moment where he struck the ball, he was Canada’s best player on the day.
On a day when a lot of his teammates looked nervous and shaky, Eustáquio was a rock at the heart of Canada’s midfield, bringing a steadying presence to the game.
Just look at his numbers, which show that even if he had not scored, it was hard to think of who else could have been Canada’s player of the match.
Offensively, he completed 43 out of 48 passes, including two out of three long balls, while also creating a whopping five chances (including two big chances!), and making four passes into the final third. In particular, his chance creation numbers are even more impressive when you consider that he also generated 0.61 xA, as he could’ve easily had an assist or two.
Then, defensively, he was steady as always, finishing with three tackles, one clearance, one interception, six recoveries and five out of nine duels, capping off an impressive display at both ends of the pitch.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT 🥸
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 28, 2026
Presented by @Telus
5 chances created.
2 shots.
3 tackles.
6 recoveries.
1 last-minute winner.
STEPHEN EUSTÁQUIO LADIES AND GENTS 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/cxY6HVqjUQ
But, of course, for all of the good work that he did at both ends of the pitch, he’ll be remembered for his decisive action on the goal, which was just his fifth in a Canadian shirt, and his first since 2023.
In a sense, though, it’s only right that Eustáquio scored it the way he did, as it was emblematic of his performance on the day.
"A moment of magic" ✨
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 28, 2026
Alistair Johnston reflects on Stephen Eustaquio's game-winning goal for the #CanMNT vs. South Africa 🇿🇦
🎙️ QUOTED by @VisaCA pic.twitter.com/9j36buHcfJ
Given how his team was playing, you wouldn’t have blamed him for rushing things or making the wrong decision, as was a theme for his team on the day. Certainly, if the chance had fallen to another player, they probably would’ve controlled the ball and hammered it with power and rage, as they desperately tried to break a deadlock that they should’ve broken much earlier. Having missed four big chances up to that point, you would’ve understood why they might’ve taken that approach.
Instead of doing that, however, Eustáquio kept a cool head and showed his class. The first touch he took with his chest was steady, and the way he struck the ball was even better, as he fired a precise, driven half-volley towards the bottom left corner.
CANADA HAS SCORED IN ADDED TIME! 🇨🇦
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 28, 2026
Stephen Eustáquio finds the back of the net to send Canada into jubilation!#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/F0Bt0xfCAC
For him, it looked like he was on the training pitch playing the shooting game that he and his Canadian teammates often play after practice, where they have one touch to control the ball before firing home at the edge of the box, as he struck the ball as if he were still back in Vancouver for a training session at UBC.
Yet, as seen earlier with his numbers from this game, that was the story of Eustáquio’s performance - he was cool, calm, and collected whenever called upon. 
Here are all of Eustáquio's actions from this game (OPTA)
For a Canadian team that wants to play with bravado, trying to impose themselves on games whenever possible, Eustáquio’s calming nature proved to be the steadying hand his team needed to navigate rough waters (fitting that he started the day as the team’s captain). 
Alphonso Davies is BACK - how did he fare?
While Eustáquio wore the captain’s armband to start the game for Canada, he wasn’t wearing it by the final whistle, and that’s because, for the first time since March of 2025, Canada’s main captain, Alphonso Davies, took the pitch for Canada in this game.
After over a week of ‘will he, won’t he’ when it came to his availability for the group stage, with head coach Jesse Marsch even using him as a decoy for Canada’s last match against Switzerland, it felt like Davies almost had to play in this game after not featuring at all in Canada’s first three games of this tournament. Certainly, had he not featured against South Africa, you could begin to wonder whether or not he was even healthy, and perhaps whether or not Canada should’ve brought someone else in his place.
Because of that, it was a welcome sight to see Davies jog onto the pitch in the 75th minute, as this was exactly the sort of moment where his team needed him.
As Canada’s best player, these are the sort of big games that you want to see him play in, even if only in limited minutes. If you had to sacrifice his ability to play in Canada’s other games this tournament, that’s a trade-off you could live with if it meant getting Davies on the pitch in these knockout matches.
And certainly, when looking at his cameo, you can be pleasantly surprised by what Davies showed, as he got a rare opportunity to play on the wing instead of at his usual left-back position.
Make no mistake, he didn’t look fully like himself quite yet, and understandably so given the run of injuries he’s dealt with over the last 15 months. Across the 20 minutes he was on the field, he hardly got close to the patented top-end speed that he’s known for, as he spent most of his cameo jogging around. 
Here are all of Davies's actions from this game (OPTA)
Yet, that’s why Marsch likely put him on the wing instead of at the back, so that all he had to focus on doing was getting into good positions in possession, and then letting his quality take over from there.
That proved to be a wise decision, as almost immediately after coming on, Davies played a nice line-splitting pass to Jonathan David to create a dangerous chance for Promise David, before teeing up Jonathan David for a chance of his own with a nice through ball a few minutes later.
Jonathan David's shot is SAVED.#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/YfRAl4vU4V
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 28, 2026
Even if physically he didn’t look like himself, you could still see the talent that he’s known for, a few moments of rust aside.
That’s great news, as it brought an injection of quality at a moment when Canada desperately needed it. Right before Davies came on, his team was starting to lose their foothold in this game, as South Africa had started to generate more and more momentum.
When Davies stepped onto the pitch, however, his presence seemed to calm his teammates, allowing them to grab a foothold back in the match - which then opened the door for them to find a late winner.
Yet, that just shows that even though Davies hasn’t played for this Canadian team in a while, he’s still a hugely important member of this team, something that has been forgotten at times. Even if not fully fit, Canada benefits from having him on the pitch.
Now, the challenge will be to figure out what this version of Davies can provide them. Hopefully, now that he has these minutes under his belt, he can further ramp up his training over the next week, opening the door for an even bigger cameo in the Round of 16.
If it felt like Canada benefited from having Davies in this Round of 32 tie against South Africa, you can only imagine how important it’d be to have him against either Morocco or the Netherlands, where Canada is going to need to be a lot sharper and more decisive at both ends of the pitch to have any chance of winning.
Because of that, look for Davies to build on this cameo, as he looks to prove that he still has a big part to play in this tournament, even if it hasn’t gone to plan for him so far. 
Where did Canada struggle, and how can they fix it for the Round of 16?
Of course, given that Canada won, they won’t look back on the performance and care too much about the fact that they weren’t at their best.
Nor should they. From their perspective, it’s important that they flush out what went wrong for them and focus on what they can do at their best as they get set for an extremely challenging Round of 16 test.
No doubt, though, that their coaching staff will have a lot to ponder as they begin to dissect how this game went for their team.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad performance for them, per se. The numbers certainly show that - Canada outshot South Africa 12-6, won the xG battle 1.32 to 0.13, had 28 touches in South Africa’s box, and generated four big chances. 
Here's the xG map from this game, showing that Canada did create enough quality chances to win this game earlier than they did (OPTA Analyst)
On another day, they take their chances, and they cruise to a comfortable victory.
Tani Oluwaseyi and Jonathan David get a HUGE chance but South Africa keeps it out.#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/llnOCGoXWe
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 28, 2026
At the same time, you can’t help but look at a few other statistics and raise a few alarms. Only completing 78% of their passes stands out as a red flag, as does the fact that Canada only generated 0.39 open-play xG (0.94 of their xG came from set-pieces). Otherwise, it also stands out that Canada won just 40% of their ground duels, as they weren’t as sharp enough in that area of their game, either.
Yet, those numbers do a good job of showing where Canada struggled in this game.
To begin, off the ball, they surprisingly weren’t as sharp in their high press as they usually are. They started the game well, as they came out with a tiny bit of a formation change - instead of defending in their usual 4-2-2-2, they operate in a sort of 4-1-2-1-2 diamond, with midfielder Nathan Saliba stepping high up the pitch to pinch South Africa’s defensive midfielder, which would alternate between Sphephelo Sithole and Teboho Mokoena (one would drop, and the other would push high up the pitch).
While the change of shape allowed Canada to pinch the ball off South Africa in midfield a few times early on in the game, they weren’t able to maintain it, as they started to drop off. Then, to make things worse, they started to be slow to react to certain triggers, which allowed South Africa to start playing more line-breaking passes and build their confidence, especially when they subbed on a third midfielder to join Sithole and Mokoena, helping them overload the middle of the park.
Maxime Crépeau makes a STRONG save to keep the match scoreless!#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/sOtJbtGj9c
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 28, 2026
In hindsight, it’s hard to say whether Canada's being slow to win duels was due to their own formation change, if because they stopped pressing as high after their first hydration break, or because of South Africa’s changes, but it was a noticeable issue, especially when South Africa broke lines in possession. Therefore, while Canada’s more passive shape also helped them create a few turnovers, you can only wonder if they could’ve won the ball up the pitch a few more times had they stuck with a more aggressive pressing posture.
Otherwise, the big thing that stood out for Canada was their struggles in possession, as they were not as effective in wide areas as they should have been.
Given that they were facing off against a South Africa side that they knew was going to sit compactly in a mid-block, they had to do a better job of creating overloads on the flanks.
Instead, they often left their two wingers, Liam Millar and Tajon Buchanan, isolated far too often - while they didn’t help themselves with the fact that they completed two out of seven combined dribbles, they could’ve used more support in the form of some overlapping and underlapping runs to help open up space to run and pass into. 
Here's Canada's attack map from this game, showing that they weren't as dangerous as hoped on the flanks (SofaScore)
That’s not to say that all was bad for Canada as a team offensively. They had some good moments centrally where they played good 1-2s with their strikers, doing well to give them the ball at their feet before offering support runs around them, and were dangerous on set-pieces (even if they somehow didn’t score on any of them), which are two things they can build on.
A mad scramble in the South Africa box has Canada come incredibly close but Ronwen Williams keeps it out.#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/uDOejF6N6r
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 28, 2026
But as they get set for a tough Round of 16 matchup, they’ll know that they have to be much better in possession and sharper with their press if they’re going to do what they’ll need to do at both ends of the pitch to have any chance at winning that game.
