Canada Advances to World Cup Round of 16 With Stoppage-Time Goal Over South Africa

Canada defeated South Africa 1-0 on Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, advancing to the World Cup round of 16 for the first time in its history. The only goal arrived in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. A long pass into the box was cleared by a South African defender directly to a Canadian player, who chested the ball down and struck a first-time volley from outside the penalty area into the bottom corner.

Canada's goalkeeper made five saves. The match remained scoreless through 90 minutes.

A substitute entered in the 75th minute after missing the group stage with a hamstring injury and created two scoring chances, though both were saved or went wide. Both teams reached the knockout stage for the first time after finishing second in their groups.

Canada had played its first three group matches in Toronto and Vancouver before losing 2-1 to Switzerland on the road last Wednesday. South Africa reached the knockout rounds with a 1-0 win over South Korea on the same day.

Canada will face the winner of the Netherlands-Morocco match in Houston on July 4. After the final whistle, Canada's coach gathered the players and said, “You guys are Canadian heroes! Canadian heroes for the future children of this country who play this sport.