Canadian players celebrate the win over South Africa in Inglewood, Calif. on Sunday.Marcio Sanchez/The Associated Press
Three weeks ago, on a shining afternoon that promised the country’s first World Cup win, at home in Toronto in front of 43,000 fanatics, disaster loomed.
At halftime, the 26 players on Team Canada regrouped to rally in their locker room, down 1-0 to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Forty-five minutes remained in a match Canada had clearly been favoured to win.
The players, a group that celebrates the brotherhood they’ve forged, urged each other on.
Ismaël Koné leaned back. The keystone midfielder spoke more quietly.
He had arrived in Canada from Ivory Coast in 2010 at age seven, his mother seeking a better life for the two. On the pitch, his teammates call him Hollywood. He eats pancakes before games. He has a loose and generous personality. As he starts warming up for a match, he touches the grass and takes a moment to pray. Before the World Cup, when CTV asked him the best way to deal with pressure, Mr. Koné stared back: “Face it.”
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Facing the prospect of a terrible loss against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Koné in the locker room at halftime eschewed the usual rah-rah let’s-go-get-’em.
“Yeah, I know we want to be positive and everything,” he told his teammates, “but we’re fucking up.”
In locker room footage later released by Canada Soccer, some faces revealed little. Eyes up, eyes down. But those eyes reflected the stakes. A children’s game, all those hours – all those dreams – from boyhood to this crux. Everything before led here.
Last Sunday, on a shining afternoon in Los Angeles, jubilation. Stephen Eustáquio scored for Canada.
The 1-0 victory over South Africa propelled Canada into a soccer stratosphere on the beautiful game’s premier stage: the final 16 countries at the World Cup.
On Saturday, in Houston, Canada faces heavily favoured Morocco.
From Toronto to Houston, this is a story of four moments. Of small margins. Those fractions of time when the game leans one way and suddenly goes another. Everything before led here.
79th minute, June 12, Canada vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina
Cyle Larin scores Canada's first goal of the tournament against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto on June 12.KEVIN SOUSA/Reuters
Toronto Stadium, the lakefront venue usually known as BMO Field, was festive and loud, almost everyone in Canadian red. In the upper south stands, a solid wall of blue-clad Bosnia-Herzegovina supporters bellowed in response. It felt special, like a home World Cup should. The atmosphere, however, turned nervy 21 minutes into the game. Bosnia-Herzegovina scored off a corner kick.
Canada came out of the locker room after halftime on a mission but, yet again, the team squandered several chances to pull even. Time ticked away.
Stalwart striker Cyle Larin languished on the sidelines.
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An hour before the game, when the starting lineup was announced, coach Jesse Marsch surprised many by choosing Tani Oluwaseyi up front instead of Mr. Larin. Mr. Oluwaseyi offered more speed than Mr. Larin and he played well with his back to the goal, receiving passes and shielding the ball, allowing teammates to build the attack.
While Larin waited, he stood ready. Fire burned inside. At halftime Mr. Marsch told the team Mr. Larin would be among the substitutes to redouble the final push.
At six-foot-two and some 200 pounds, Mr. Larin is a force for defenders to contain. The sometimes mercurial 31 year old, among the older players on a young team, had arrived at the World Cup on a rich vein of form. He scored nine times in 22 matches for Southampton FC in England’s second-highest league.
Against Bosnia-Herzegovina, it was exactly what Canada, mired in a months-long scoring slump, needed. Yet Mr. Marsch, in a tactical gambit, had benched Mr. Larin.
It’s 40 kilometres from Toronto Stadium to St. Edmund Campion Catholic Secondary in Brampton, where in the early 2010s Mr. Larin led the school to three straight provincial soccer titles. Later, Mr. Larin often played at BMO Field, for Canada, and in Major League Soccer. Orlando City in 2015 drafted him first overall and he won rookie of the year. The scorer-for-hire went on to play in Turkey, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, before finding a home with Southampton this January.
Mr. Marsch deployed Mr. Larin in the 76th minute.
Mr. Koné triggered the final move, accelerating past defenders and sending the ball to Promise David, who deftly flicked it ahead to Mr. Larin. Stationed at the top of penalty box, 18 yards from the goal, the burly striker pivoted, outmuscled a defender and, the ball aloft on a small bounce, rifled a blast.
Celebrating the score, Mr. Larin raced to the sidelines and plugged his ears. He kissed the maple leaf on his jersey. His teammates mobbed him and then, again, he plugged his ears, his eyes closed. A message to anyone and everyone who ever doubted him.
Mr. Larin’s 31st goal in 91 international appearances rescued Canada. It happened 126 seconds after he stepped on the pitch. The team has never lost when he’s scored.
Immediately after the game, he sounded more than well aware of that particular stat: “I score when Canada needs me.”
Crisis averted. Game on.
51st minute, June 18, Canada vs. Qatar
Ismael Kone waves to the crowd as he is stretchered off the field after an injury against Qatar in Vancouver on June 18.Emma Peterson/The Canadian Press
Everyone heard the bones snap.
Six minutes into the second half, Canada’s first World Cup win well in hand – up 3-0 against lowly ranked Qatar at a raucous BC Place Vancouver – the home team took a heavy blow.
Mr. Koné, in the offensive end, had just sent a pass back to midfield when Qatari Assim Madibo moved in for a late and rough tackle. It broke Mr. Koné’s left fibula and tibia. He immediately crumpled. The injury sparked anger, midfielder Richie Laryea’s eyes bulging as he shouted in a regretful Mr. Madibo’s face. The Qatari soon after apologized to Mr. Koné.
Greg Bay calmed the chaos. In six minutes, Canada’s medical team, led by Mr. Bay, stabilized Mr. Koné’s leg, got him on a stretcher and readied him for the ambulance parked under the stands to send him on the short trip up the hill to Vancouver General Hospital for surgery. For Mr. Bay and his team, all the noise faded away. Time slowed down.
“You become,” Mr. Bay told The Globe, “hyper-focused on your small world.”
Carried off the field, while taking draws on the self-administered anesthetic colloquially called “the green whistle,” Mr. Koné sat upright on the stretcher. He waved to the crowd – and to his mother Suzanne Diomandé.
“You have to let her know you’re okay,” team physician Dave Simon had told Mr. Koné, as reported by the Athletic.
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The match ended 6-0, a bittersweet rout, the country’s first World Cup victory and the loss of team’s centrifugal force. Two days before, the squad had celebrated Mr. Koné’s 24th birthday. The day after surgery, and the win, the team welcomed Mr. Koné back at their hotel near Stanley Park with cheers, hugs and intricate handshakes.
“To my Canadian brothers,” Mr. Koné wrote on Instagram. “I [turn] myself into assistant coach to support you from the sideline.”
He punctuated that with the laughing-crying face emoji.
“I wanted you to know that I love you guys from the bottom of my heart and our brotherhood is everything to me.”
46th minute, June 24, Canada vs. Switzerland
Switzerland's Ruben Vargas scores past Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau in Vancouver on June 24.Abbie Parr/The Associated Press
In the early seconds of the second half against Switzerland, tied at zero at BC Place Vancouver, Canada needing only a draw to secure homefield advantage for its first World Cup knockout round match, Rubén Vargas drifted toward Canada’s net. It was like he was on the field by himself, like the Canadians forgot he was even playing.
Moments later, Mr. Vargas had the ball, wide open, eight yards from the goal. Point blank: 1-0 Switzerland. Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, in the first half, made a monumental save. This time, no chance.
The defensive lapse was egregious. The TSN announcers called it “the worst possible start for Canada.”
A little more than 10 minutes later: 2-0 Switzerland. Another defensive breakdown. The home team, after scoring one as the clock inexorably marched to the final whistle, furiously tried to even the score but could not.
The federal government, British Columbia and Ontario spent $1.1-billion to stage 13 World Cup games in Toronto and Vancouver. A lot of money. But it bought, potentially, homefield advantage in the knockout rounds of 32 and 16 in Vancouver. Canada had to win its group, among the weakest in this sprawling 48-country tournament.
Instead, the deflating loss against Switzerland exiled Canada to Los Angeles. Afterward, edgy feelings abounded. Canada got itself into a place it had never been before, the World Cup knockout round, yet people couldn’t shake the sense something had slipped away.
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In Vancouver, Mr. Marsch, usually voluble, often ebullient, abruptly ended his postgame news conference after nine terse minutes. Injured star Alphonso Davies was supposed to, finally, play against the Swiss. In the shadow of a loss, Mr. Marsch revealed his announcement the day before that Mr. Davies would play was a decoy. The ploy sounded lame. The Swiss had not looked rattled. All it did was disappoint more than 50,000 fans who had expected to see the star play.
Down the concrete hallway under the stands at BC Place Vancouver, heading to the locker room, Alistair Johnston spoke with reporters. He said he got “a strange vibe” from some of the questions. Four years ago, he had played every minute for Canada in three World Cup losses. He played every minute this tournament.
Yes, the start of the second half was bad, the 27-year-old defender told reporters, but the team had made it into the World Cup knockout rounds.
“There’s everything to play for,” Mr. Johnston said. “Let’s regroup. Let’s get after it.”
92nd minute, June 28, Canada vs. South Africa
Stephen Eustáquio scores Canada's winner against South Africa in Los Angeles on Sunday.FRANK GUNN/The Canadian Press
Los Angeles proved lucky. It was a sort of cosmic gift. Lose what you want and get what you need.
Had Canada tied Switzerland, they would have faced higher-ranked Algeria in Vancouver in the round of 32. And instead of South Korea in L.A., another higher-ranked team, Canada’s surprise opponent was lowly ranked South Africa.
Yet, again, for a long time, Canada could not capitalize in a ramshackle match on a shining afternoon in L.A. where neither team could score.
Nearing the end, in the 75th minute, Mr. Davies stepped on the field. The last time he played for Canada was at this same stadium, in early 2025, when he ruptured his ACL. Last Sunday, though still looking well short of full fitness, Davies delivered an immediate spark – the tonic his teammates needed.
Canada came to life. Promise David fizzed a shot just wide off the net. Jonathan David stung the palms of the South African goalkeeper. It was precursor to a crescendo.
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With the match entering stoppage time, an extra 30 minutes of play and a penalty-kick shootout loomed.
A Jacob Shaffelburg shot from the outside sailed toward the South African net and a defender volleyed the ball away with a header.
Mr. Eustáquio, poised some 20 yards from the net, channelled the hopes of 41 million Canadians.
The ball came directly to him. He corralled it on his chest and directed it to the grass. His eyes locked on the ball. He planted his left foot. The ball bounced to hip height and as it began to descend, he swung his right leg, connecting clean. There were three defenders and the goalkeeper but he saw a clear path through.
Three years ago, brain cancer had killed Mr. Eustáquio’s mother. The next year, a month after his daughter Benedita was born, a heart attack killed his father.
The 29-year-old had worn the team captain arm band for most of the tournament. When Mr. Davies came on in L.A., Mr. Eustáquio fitted the white band on the star’s left bicep.
Forty years ago, at Canada’s first World Cup in 1986, the team lost three games, didn’t score a single goal and finished last of 24 countries. In 1994, Canada was within two wins of qualifying for its second World Cup. Then, years in the soccer wilderness. The nadir 8-1 loss to Honduras in 2012. Nine years ago, Canada was 120th-ranked in the world. In 2022, back at the World Cup, it was barely better than the first time. Three losses and second last out of 32 countries.
In L.A., Mr. Eustáquio’s winner flew untouched and bounced near the six-yard box line. The South African goalkeeper dove to his right.
As the ball rippled the goal net, a nascent soccer country received permission to dream – a moment of collective catharsis.
It was the only World Cup game last Sunday, a global spotlight on Canada. The brotherhood, in a postmatch exhalation, gathered as always on the field in a circle. “You guys are Canadian heroes,” Mr. Marsch told the players. Mr. Koné, without crutches, danced.
Mr. Eustáquio carried Canada and Canada carried Mr. Eustáquio.
“When I shot,” he said after the victory, “I felt everybody shot with me. Everybody put a little bit of power on it.”
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Kelsey Wilson/The Globe and Mail
No margin for missteps
Mid-morning Wednesday, Canada Day, the summer heat in Houston already felt oppressive, climbing toward a high of 35 C, humidity soaking the stagnant air.
After two days of rest, the team gathered near a local college, in a sort of American suburban nowhere. The Canadians readied for the match of their lives. Good vibes radiated. They’d made it to a place Canada had never been.
Houston Stadium, a domed modern behemoth, stood six miles away, capacity 68,000. It’s there, on Saturday, that Canada faces Morocco, a true power in global soccer, seventh-ranked in FIFA’s tally, the best team in Africa. Canada is 30th.
At the 2022 World Cup, Morocco beat Canada 2-1 in the last group stage game when Canada was already out.
Saturday will likely be the most widely watched sporting event to ever feature Canada, with upward of several hundred million viewers around the world.
In a game of small margins, there is no more room for missteps.