INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Stephen Eustáquio picked the perfect place and the perfect moment to score the biggest goal in Canadian men’s soccer history.
The LAFC midfielder, playing only a few miles from his club home, scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time Sunday to lift Canada to a dramatic 1-0 victory over South Africa at SoFi Stadium in the opening match of the World Cup knockout rounds.
The win gave Canada its first knockout match victory in a World Cup and sent the co-hosts into the round of 16, where they will face either the Netherlands or Morocco on Saturday, July 4, in Houston.
After the final whistle, Canada coach Jesse Marsch gathered his players in a huddle on the field and delivered a spirited message that captured the moment.
“You guys are Canadian heroes!” Marsch shouted. “Canadian heroes!”
For most of the afternoon, Canada appeared headed for extra time. South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams made five saves, and Bafana Bafana defended deep and stubbornly while searching for another historic result after reaching the knockout rounds for the first time.
Canada created the better chances, especially after Alphonso Davies came on in the 75th minute for his first World Cup action after missing group play with a hamstring injury. Davies immediately changed the match, slipping a brilliant pass to Promise David, who missed wide on one of Canada’s best chances of the day.
The breakthrough finally came moments before extra time seemed inevitable. Alistair Johnston sent a long ball into the box, and South Africa’s clearance fell directly to Eustáquio outside the penalty area. He struck a clean volley into the bottom corner of Williams’ net and began celebrating almost as soon as it left his foot.
“I feel very happy that I scored the goal, that I was able to help the team,” Eustáquio said. “But that shot, I felt that everybody on the team shot that ball with me. We believed a lot in this game. We knew that if we were at our best, we could win. We did history, but at the same time, we have to recover well because we have a big game next week.”
Johnston said the moment was bigger than one match.
“You see Steph sprinting away and the whole team sprinting, it’s one of those moments that you’ll never forget where you were,” Johnston said. “For Canadian sports history, it’s going to be a moment where you’re going to know where you were when that moment happened.”
Canada had played its first three matches at home in Toronto and Vancouver before becoming the first World Cup host to play on the road in its group-stage finale, a 2-1 loss to Switzerland last Wednesday. But the Canadians were still the clear crowd favorite in the Los Angeles area, backed by traveling fans and thousands of locals, including several wearing Eustáquio’s LAFC shirt.
South Africa, which advanced with a stunning 1-0 victory over South Korea last Wednesday, nearly pushed Canada to the brink. But Canada stayed organized defensively in the final minutes and held on for the most significant win in the program’s history.
Johnston called it a “survive and advance” performance.
“We just won a knockout round match at a World Cup,” Johnston said. “We’re still dancing. I’m just so excited. The crowd was great, and I’m expecting even more fans now down in Houston.”
Eustáquio, though emotional, said Canada could not allow the moment to become the end of its story.
“We don’t want to be on the moon right now,” Eustáquio said. “We have to be humble. We have to recover well. We know that in six days we’re going to have a very tough team. But today we have to enjoy the fact that we made everybody back home proud.”