The knockout stages at the FIFA World Cup are underway with a bang for host country Canada, who became the first home nation at a World Cup to not play on home soil, beating South Africa 1-0 in Los Angeles last night. It was a poor game of football; both sides struggled to dictate and control the tempo of the game, but it was Canada, managed by former Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch, who powered through to the Last 16 via a 92nd minute winning goal from LAFC player Stephen Eustaquio, who’s finish from outside the box send Bafana Bafana home, after Hugo Broos’ team made the knockout stages for the first time in their history. Canada will play the winner of the fixture between the Netherlands and Morocco, which kicks off at 2am tonight in Monterrey, Mexico. After the game, Marsch called his side “Canadian heroes”, stating that
the future of the sport in this country is huge because of you.
These comments may seem over-the-top and slightly grandiose, but Marsch is known for this, and he’ll hope that his encouragement can fire up not just his own team, but the nation of Canada as a whole, especially considering the fact that since Canada finished runners-up in their group, they have lost their home advantage, a luxury Mexico and the United States still have.
Elsewhere this evening, Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil will face Japan, led by Hajime Moriyasu in Houston, as the five time World Champions look to go deep into the competition. They could run into Thomas Tuchel’s England in a heavyweight clash in the quarter-finals; England topped their group on Saturday night against Panama, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane. The second game tonight will see a showdown between an inconsistent Germany and Paraguay, who matchup at the World Cup for the first time since 2002. That game kicks off from 9:30 in Boston, as Julian Nagelsmann’s side look to progress to a potential Last 16 game against France on Independence Day, July 4th. Germany will be looking for a comfortable win after a comeback victory against the Ivory Coast, and an embarrassing loss to Ecuador in their last two group stage games, with Nagelsmann himself saying that the clash is a “do-or-die match”, and that his team will “bring their A-game.”
Luke Watson will be keeping us up to date on World Cup 2026
