world cup<\/span>coach Jesse Marsh hugged his players on the still-chaotic stadium grass and spoke from the bottom of his heart — in fact, screamed.<\/p>\n“From this day on, you are Canadian heroes!” Marsh declared. “You are a Canadian hero for the future kids of this country who play this sport. This sport has a great future because of you. You should be very proud of who you are. You should be very proud of this game. You never lost faith. You kept going after it, one after the other. You are Canadian heroes!”<\/p>\n
Stephen Eustaquio’s dramatic late goal inspired Ted Lasso-level seriousness from Marsh, who didn’t care who knew it.<\/p>\n
Soccer has never been the main event on Canada’s busy sports calendar, and Les Rouges will be playing in only the third World Cup this summer. But Mr Marsh realized that Sunday’s landmark 1-0 victory over South Africa was the kind of achievement that could capture the attention of an entire nation for a generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had played earlier when I had my big chances, it might have been a little bit easier,\u201d Marsh said. “But obviously the timing of the finish means that the victory is incredibly dramatic, and I think the impact it will have on Canada and the impact it will have on people will be enormous.”<\/p>\n
After more than 90 frustrating minutes at SoFi Stadium, unable to overcome a stout South Africa, Canada instantly made history when Alistair Johnston’s long pass into the box was cleared directly into the path of Youth Staquio.<\/p>\n
The midfielder, who plays professionally for nearby Los Angeles FC, calmly took the ball to his chest and sent it ricocheting into the bottom corner of Ronwen Williams’ goal before sprinting away to celebrate with the Canadian bench in the second minute of second-half stoppage time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe worked hard for that,\u201d Eustaquio said. “We have a special group. We feel like we’re brothers. When you fight for each other, when you play for each other, special things like this can happen. I’m very happy, but at the same time I don’t want to say the job is done.”<\/p>\n
Canada, ranked 30th in the latest FIFA world rankings, will play either the Netherlands or Morocco in Houston on Saturday.<\/p>\n
After playing the first three group games in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada missed this opportunity to make history at home. Lost to Switzerland 2-1<\/span> I was scheduled to head to the final tournament last Wednesday. But Marsh’s brave side responded by winning their first match of the round of 32 in this competition and progressing to the round of 16 for the first time in three trips to the World Cup.<\/p>\nThe Canadians were clear favorites in the Los Angeles area crowd, among traveling fans and thousands of supportive locals, including several wearing Eustaquio’s LAFC shirts, and couldn’t have imagined the day they were about to enjoy.<\/p>\n
“We never stopped believing,” Eustaquio said. \u201cAnd I think this goal is something we really deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
South Africa and Canada finished second in their respective groups and were playing for their first World Cup final tournament victory when the final tournament began with the only match of the day.<\/p>\n
Canada regained momentum in the 75th minute when star defender Alphonso Davies came on in his first World Cup appearance. Playmaker Bayern Munich defender Missed group play<\/span> Last month, he injured his hamstring for the third time this year, but finally returned in March 2025 at the same stadium where he tore his knee ligaments while playing in the CONCACAF Nations League.<\/p>\nDavies immediately produced his best pass of the day, setting up Promise David with a great chance, but the forward went wide. The game then became muddy again, but Eustaquio allowed Canada to avoid overtime.<\/p>\n
“Steph is one of the most reliable people on the team, he understands what we are trying to achieve as a group, he understands how to manage moments in a game and how to be a leader, a true leader,” Marsh said. “In that moment, it was good to see him just being in the moment and thinking about the best way to hit the ball to give him the best chance to get it in. He was really calm and did a really good job.”<\/p>\n
Williams made five saves. South Africa<\/span>played with great heart and tenacity until the final moments as they sought another historic victory for the team known as Bafana Bafana. South Africa defended well and despite having just one shot on goal, they created some attractive chances and finished the competition with two goals in four games.<\/p>\n“Our team lacked power and speed when compared to our opponents, so we lost the match,” South Africa coach Hugo Bruce said. “Obviously, we had a difficult game. But looking back, I think we can be pretty happy with what we did.”<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
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