Pre-match information
The South African team made history at the 2026 World Cup when they first qualified for the round of 32. Now, coach Hugo Broos and his team are facing the opportunity to continue writing a fairy tale with a ticket to the round of 16.
The African representative started the tournament unsuccessfully with a 0-2 defeat to Mexico and seemed to stop soon. However, they quickly regained their spirits with a 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic, before defeating South Korea 1-0 in the final match to win a ticket to the next round.
With 4 points after 3 matches, South Africa finished the group stage in second place in Group A, 1 point ahead of South Korea and will face co-host Canada in the round of 32.
South Africa has only met Canada once. That was a 2-0 victory in a friendly match in November 2007. Therefore, this will be the first time the two teams have faced each other in an official tournament.
The winning team in this match will meet the Netherlands or Morocco in the round of 16, before having the opportunity to face strong candidates such as France or Germany in the quarterfinals.
On the other side, Canada also participated in the knockout round of a World Cup for the first time. However, the North American representative missed the opportunity to win the top spot in Group B after a 1-2 defeat to Switzerland in the final match.
If they maintain the top spot in the group, Canada will have a significant advantage when they only have to face Algeria in the round of 32. Instead, the defeat to Switzerland caused them to drop to second place in the group, although they had previously made a strong impression with a 6-0 victory over Qatar.
The match in Los Angeles also marked a memorable milestone. Canada will become the first co-host country in World Cup history to have to play a match in the knockout round outside its territory, specifically in the United States.
