Canada’s match-winning hero, Stephen Eustaquio, said he “felt everyone was shooting with me” and attributed their historic 1-0 win over South Africa in the World Cup to belief in the camp and the country.
Eustaquio’s 92nd-minute goal in the semi decided the first round of the 2026 World Cup, sending the hosts, who are playing in Los Angeles instead of Canada after failing to top their group, to the round of 16.
Canada created enough chances to win their first ever knockout stage match by a much larger margin, with a special strike from Eustaquio that would instantly become the most famous goal in the country’s soccer history needed to beat South Africa’s impressive goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
It was an emotional moment for Eustaquio, who lost his father in 2024, a year after his mother’s death, and attributed it to Jesse Marsh’s persistence.
“I think we worked a lot to achieve this victory,” Eustaquio said.
“We really wanted to give this win to all Canadians. We kept believing, we kept pushing, and I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
“I think it was a great goal, but when I shot it, I felt like everyone was shooting with me. They focused a little on the ball and it went into the net. So I’m very happy.”
Eustaquio hopes Canada can pull off a round-of-16 upset
Canada will Facing the Netherlands or Morocco in the round of 16 Next Saturday. Eustaquio accepts that Canada will be the underdog, but hopes to make the difference again.
He added, “It (belief) started when we were eliminated from the group stage. I think that when it comes to the knockout stages in the World Cup, faith plays a big role in that.”
“Now, we will face Morocco or the Netherlands and who knows, we can make things happen on a good day. Maybe the quality will not be there, but if we keep believing and keep working, things might go our way.”
South Africa’s president is not ready to announce his retirement decision
South Africa coach Hugo Bruce refused to say whether he would retire from playing following his country’s exit from the tournament.
Although South Africa spent most of their first knockout stage matches in World Cup history down, the 74-year-old insisted that the defeat and the disappointing nature of their performance did not diminish the achievement of reaching the last 32.
Bruce said: “We will make the decision (to retire) in the next few days.” “But it was a great World Cup. It won’t be an easy decision. I can’t say now whether I’ll stop or leave.”
“I’m still as proud as I was two or three days ago. I think we had a good World Cup, but today, when we play against a team like this, with this strength and speed, we fall behind. This is something we have to learn. So it was important for this team that we are here.”
When asked if this was the start of South Africa’s regular involvement in World Cup finals, he replied: “For us, this is definitely something we have to do, and I’m sure this team will be stronger than before in the next few months because today we played against a team that is a little further away from us. We played a very good game. We could have done more.”
