Canada strikes late to overcome South Africa, extend groundbreaking World Cup run

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In their first-ever appearance in a World Cup knockout round, Canada left it late to defeat a resilient South Africa team. In the 92nd minute, Stephen Eustáquio scored a remarkable goal from long distance. It was the difference in the 1-0 game.

Canada had the vast majority of quality chances throughout a chippy 90 minutes. But just as it looked as if South Africa would be able to drag them to extra time, and seemingly out of nothing, one moment of individual brilliance turned it.

In other good news for Canada, Alphonso Davies played an effective – and injury free – 15 minutes in the game.

Canada advances to play the winner of Netherlands-Morocco on Saturday in Houston.

Canada came with a plan – to attack the South Africans relentlessly, forcing them into making mistakes. The same idea worked brilliantly for Mexico in the tournament’s opening match.

The South Africans had a counterplan – absorb pressure and respond only when most opportune.

This is often a recipe for drudgery, but not in this instance. The nerviness of both sides created an atmosphere of controlled hysteria. A lot of bodies flying all over the place.

Canada had by far the best of the early chances – a half-taken Derek Cornelius header essentially in the goalmouth, a better one for Moïse Bombito kicked off the line – but couldn’t finish.

Live analysis and commentary about Canada's momentous win

By the half hour mark, the South Africans had already begun playing for penalties. The crowd – a melange of Canadian, South African, Mexican and neutral fans – began to boo whenever the South African goalkeeper spent long minutes surveying his options. It was turning into that sort of game.

The key moment of the first half was a penalty shot not called after Richie Laryea was knocked over hard in the area. Without question, Laryea was clipped. One South African defender seemed to get the merest whisper of a touch on the ball before that happened. A second was in the process of tackling Laryea to the ground. The Portuguese referee, João Pinheiro, was not interested in taking a second look at it on the monitors.

Marsch stormed the field as the halftime whistle blew, looking to get into it with someone wearing a whistle. He was escorted away by one of his own players, James Brown-style.

In order to soothe the restive crowd, the L.A. Rams cheerleaders danced extra hard during the break.

In the second half, matters continued to get scrappier. The South Africans attempted to play keepaway, as frustrated Canadian players increased the force and velocity of their tackles. The rough stuff didn’t seem to dissuade the Africans.

Around the hour mark, the first Canadian subs were made and Davies began to warm up on the sidelines.

The South Africans had a rare chance, but missed the goal. The ball caromed back onto the field. A South African picked it up and began jogging away with it. Laryea chased him down, shoved him away from it and passed it back to his goalkeeper.

Down at the other end, panic stations again for the South Africans. A Tani Oluwaseyi shot just barely parried by the South African ‘keeper, but still lobbed into the path of Jonathan David. Mbekezeli Mbokazi just managed to knock it away before David pounced. This was real skin-of-the-teeth stuff.

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In the 75th minute, the Canadians in the crowd rose to greet the entry of Davies. His first touch of the ball nearly threaded a needle to Jonathan David, rolled back onto the foot of Promise David and was planted a few inches wide of the post. To that point, it was the best Canadian move of the match from open play.

The difference in quality Davies brings was also clear in the open field. There were a lot of good players on the field, and one star.

However, it was still moving in the wrong direction for the Canadians. That was until a poor South African clearance from the goal landed at the feet of Eustáquio. He took one touch and launched the ball back at goal. It found the corner of the net.

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Finally, South Africa began to press, but they’d left it too late.

Canada is now in rare air at the World Cup – the last 16. The next match gets commensurately harder.