Bafana broke their knockout round hoodoo at the 2026 soccer World Cup. However, their first foray into this stage was abruptly ended by a 1-0 loss to Canada on Sunday.
After reaching the Fifa World Cup knockout phase for the first time in their history, Bafana Bafana met a Canadian team that, just like them, was playing in the World Cup knockout round for the first time. It was the Canadians that walked away with victory.
Stephen Eustáquio scored the sole goal of the match, in the 92nd minute. It came from a poor clearance from one of South Africa's best players on the day, centre-back Ime Okon. Eustáquio was on hand to smash it past Ronwen Williams in the Bafana Bafana goal.
Despite not playing on home ground, the Canadians had the bulk of the support from the stands at the 70,000-capacity SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Sequence of play
The first minutes of the match featured the two teams feeling each other out, with impotent attacks in both directions.
But after that, it was the Canadians who began testing the South African defence more and more, with US-based Mbekezeli Mbokazi in particular playing a major role in fending off the World Cup co-host nation.
Teboho Mokoena slotted right back into the starting lineup after serving a one-match suspension and missing Bafana Bafana's historic South Korea win. The midfield...
