Ahmed Salem
South Africa bid farewell to the competition World Cup, After losing 1-0 to Canada in the opening knockout match of the tournament.
With this, the Canadian national team achieves a historic qualification to the round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup for the first time.
The turning point came in stoppage time at SoFi Stadium in California, when Steven Eustacchio controlled a loose ball before unleashing a powerful shot into the bottom corner to secure a historic victory.
South Africa vs Canada match summary
The Canadians controlled most of the game, but South African goalkeeper Ronen Williams made five consecutive saves to keep Bafana Bafana in contention.
South Africa defended resolutely and threatened on the counter-attack but struggled to create clear scoring opportunities, managing only one shot on target.
The Canadian team also welcomed back star defender Alphonso Davies, who made his first appearance in the tournament after recovering from a hamstring injury. His introduction injected energy into the attack before Ustadjo opened the scoring in the second minute of stoppage time.
This victory marks Canada's first-ever knockout stage win at the World Cup, and continues a remarkable run under coach Jesse Marsh, who praised his players for their belief until the final whistle and described them as "Canadian heroes".
Canada will now face either the Netherlands or Morocco in Houston, as the two teams compete for a place in the quarter-finals, while South Africa exits the tournament after an enthusiastic performance that demonstrated the team's resilience on the biggest stage of football.
