Eustaquio’s late strike sends Canada to Round of 16, ends Bafana Bafana’s run
- South Africa vs Canada: Stephen Eustaquio scored the winner in the second minute of stoppage time with a superb low volley to seal a dramatic victory.
- The 1-0 triumph sent co-hosts Canada into the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 while eliminating Bafana Bafana from the tournament.
- Canada will now face the winner of the Netherlands vs Morocco clash in the Round of 16.
Stephen Eustaquio scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner as co-hosts Canada stunned resilient South Africa 1-0 to eliminate them from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, booking their place in the Round of 16.
It took everything from Canada, who squandered chances in both halves, until the 92nd minute to finally breach South Africa’s stubborn defense.
The visitors sat deep, perhaps hoping to force penalties, having already made history by reaching the knockout stage for the first time. But it was the host nation that snatched the win and cruised into the last 16.
Canada will now prepare to face the winner between the Netherlands and Morocco in the Round of 16 next week.
Canada dominated possession and created promising opportunities throughout the match. One of the best chances came in the first half when they won a free-kick on the left flank, about 35 metres from goal.
Eustaquio delivered a perfect cross into the box, with Derek Cornelius rising unmarked in the area.
All he needed was to direct his header either side of a scrambling Ronwen Williams, but instead he nodded it straight at the goalkeeper as the game remained cagey.
Just a minute before halftime, Canada earned their third corner of the match. Eustaquio swung the ball in from the left, and Moise Bombito met it with a header that was brilliantly cleared off the line by Aubrey Modiba.
The danger was not over as the loose ball dropped invitingly inside the six-yard box. Tani Oluwaseyi and Alistair Johnston both tried to force it home, but Williams produced another outstanding smothering save at his near post to deny the Canadians yet again.
Four minutes after the hour mark, Sigur played a brilliant pass to Oluwaseyi, who burst through the left inside channel.
With a defender closing him down, he attempted to beat the advancing Williams. The goalkeeper made the save, sending the rebound looping towards Jonathan David, but Mbekezeli Mbokazi recovered superbly to hold off the striker before hooking the ball away for a corner.
It was a magnificent piece of defending that denied Canada what looked like a certain goal. The resulting corner was floated into the area, but South Africa managed to clear the danger once more.
South Africa defended with everything they had throughout regulation time, only to concede in stoppage time through a marvelous strike from Stephen Eustaquio.
The decisive moment came after Jacob Shaffelburg made a dangerous run down the left flank before sending a deep cross into the penalty area.
A South African defender managed to head the ball clear under immense pressure, but the clearance fell kindly to Eustaquio at the edge of the box.
The Canadian midfielder calmly brought it down with his chest before unleashing a magnificent low volley that flew beyond Ronwen Williams and nestled into the bottom corner to seal a historic 1-0 victory.
South Africa vs Canada – Round of 32 line-ups (Sunday, June 28)
- South Africa starting XI: Ronwen Williams, Aubrey Modiba, Khuliso Mudau, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Ime Okon, Teboho Mokoena, Yaya Sithole, Relebohile Mofokeng, Oswin Appollis, Thapelo Maseko, Evidence Makgopa.
- Canada starting XI: Maxime Crépeau, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston, Derek Cornelius, Moïse Bombito, Liam Millar, Nathan Saliba, Tajon Buchanan, Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan David, Tani Oluwaseyi.
Read more about other World Cup teams in 2026 below:
Morocco national football team 2026
Argentina national football team 2026
Mexico national football team 2026
Spain national football team 2026
Brazil national football team 2026
France national football team 2026
Senegal national football team 2026
France vs Senegal lineups
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In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.
The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.
Canada vs Bosnia World Cup prediction: Match preview, team news, current form & h2h – Kenya’s sports news, betting and casino updates
Canada are all set for their second consecutive FIFA World Cup finals appearance as they take on Bosnia & Herzegovina in their Group B opener on Friday night.
Co-hosts Canada are hopeful of making it out of the Group stages, with a positive start in the opening match in Toronto. Bosnia, Switzerland and Qatar are the other three teams in the potentially competitive group.
Bosnia made it through to the World Cup finals after winning the UEFA play-off, stunning Italy 4-1 on post match penalties.
The pressure is on the hosts who have lost all six of their last World Cup games in Mexico 1986 and Qatar 2022. They have only scored twice in both editions and need to be in top form here with home advantage.
This will be Bosnia’s second appearance at the global showpiece after being eliminated at Brazil 2014. They come into the tournament on the back of a commendable eight-game unbeaten run.
Canada coach Jesse Marsch has guided his two previous teams to the latter stages of a tournament in the last three years. The American football coach is under pressure to deliver a positive result for the co-hosts.
Will the home nation register a win in their first game, or can Bosnia extend their unbeaten run? We have a look at both sides and offer our predicted outcome.
What time is Canada vs Bosnia?
The match kicks off at 10PM E.A.T at the BMO Field.
ALSO READ: Mexico vs South Africa World Cup 2026 opener: Prediction, preview, key stats & h2h
Canada vs Bosnia team news
Canadian captain Alphonso Davies may sit this out as he recovers from a minor injury, though veteran Richie Laryea will start in his place.
Sassuolo’s Ismaila Kone and Stephen Eustaquio will control proceedings in the midfield, with Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi starting as well to provide attacking options for the hosts.
Jonathan David, who is Canada’s all-time top scorer, will start up front for the hosts and captain the side.
Bosnian veteran Sead Kolasinac and teenage sensation Nidal Celik will be the key components of their defense. Nikola Vasilj will start in goal.
The rest of the team will remain unchanged from their play-off final against Italy, with Stuttgart forward Ermedin Demirovic leading the attacking line.
Canada vs Bosnia head-to-head and current form
Both teams come into the game on the back of unbeaten runs, unbeaten in their last five games. Neither side has lost in their last eight games.
Canada’s last match resulted in a 1-1 draw against Ireland, while Bosnia were held to an identical stalemate by Panama.
This will be the first ever match between these two nations.
ALSO READ: How to watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Kenya and across Africa
Current form:
Canada – DWDDW
Bosnia – DDWWD
Canada vs Bosnia prediction
This Group B opener has the potential to be an explosive encounter with both sides looking to make a statement. However, Canada have a slight edge with home advantage in their favor.
Neither side is known to score plenty of goals in one encounter and this could be a low-scoring affair.
Prediction – Canada to win or draw (1X) – CLICK HERE TO PLACE YOUR BET ON THIS GAME!
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PakarPBN
A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a collection of websites that are controlled by a single individual or organization and used primarily to build backlinks to a “money site” in order to influence its ranking in search engines such as Google. The core idea behind a PBN is based on the importance of backlinks in Google’s ranking algorithm. Since Google views backlinks as signals of authority and trust, some website owners attempt to artificially create these signals through a controlled network of sites.
In a typical PBN setup, the owner acquires expired or aged domains that already have existing authority, backlinks, and history. These domains are rebuilt with new content and hosted separately, often using different IP addresses, hosting providers, themes, and ownership details to make them appear unrelated. Within the content published on these sites, links are strategically placed that point to the main website the owner wants to rank higher. By doing this, the owner attempts to pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) from the PBN sites to the target website.
The purpose of a PBN is to give the impression that the target website is naturally earning links from multiple independent sources. If done effectively, this can temporarily improve keyword rankings, increase organic visibility, and drive more traffic from search results.