Bafana sent packing as last-gasp Eustaquio goal earns win for Canada

The clock had already ticked over 90 minutes and this 2026 Fifa World Cup last 32 clash at Los Angeles Stadium appeared to be heading to extra time.

Canada put South Africa under pressure and Ime Okon’s desperate defensive header fell into the path of well-positioned Stephen Eustaquio to beat Ronwen Williams in the 92^nd minute and settle the clash 1-0, sending Bafana Bafana home.

With that, South Africa’s chances of progressing to the last 16 went up in smoke, but they did not embarrass themselves as they were in this match until the dying minutes.

By that stage, the game was even with neither of the two teams looking like scoring, but persistent pressure from the Canadians forced South Africa onto the back foot and into a mistake.

It was a cruel blow for Bafana Bafana. They had fought gallantly in this tournament after they recovered from a poor performance against Mexico in the opening match to draw with Czechia and beat a classy South Korea to progress past a World Cup group stage for the first time despite being the lowest-ranked side in Group A.

Bafana coach Hugo Broos made one change to the team that beat South Korea, with Teboho Mokoena coming back from suspension to replace Thalente Mbatha in the starting line-up.

Canadian counterpart Jesse Marsch left captain Alphonso Davies, recently back from injury, on the bench, the Bayern Munich left-back getting his first taste of the action in the second half.

Surprisingly, Mokoena was erratic and he made too many misplaced passes and some of those errors put the Bafana defence under unnecessary pressure from the Canadians.

South Africa created the first notable chance in the sixth minute when an attack into the Canada box resulted in Mokoena testing goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau.

Canada reacted moments later with an attack of their own that was thwarted by good defensive work by Thapelo Maseko, who tracked back to deny Richie Laryea.

Canada missed a golden opportunity in the 22nd minute when unmarked Derek Cornelius failed to connect with a free-kick inside the box.

As the match continued, Canada gained momentum with a double chance that started with Aubrey Modiba clearing the ball on the line and Ronwen Williams producing a close-range save.

At the beginning of the second half, Broos solidified his midfield with the introduction of Mbatha for exciting young attacker Relebohile Mofokeng.

The move was meant to add more steel in the midfield with Mbatha joining Mokoena and Sphephelo Sithole as they looked to counter the threats of Nathan Saliba and Eustaquio.

South Africa played with confidence but they did not create enough chances — by the 60th minute they had only three shots at goal compared to eight by Canada.

South Africa were forced to retreat just after the hour mark with Ime Okon put under pressure by the Canada counterattack, but he was saved by Mbokazi who covered him and cleared the ball under pressure from Jonathan David.

There was a loud cheer inside the stadium when Alphonso Davies finally made his first appearance of the tournament after 74 minutes to replace Tajon Buchanan.

With five minutes of regulation time remaining, Broos made a double change that saw Tshepang Moremi and Iqraam Rayners coming on from Maseko and Makgopa.

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