INGLEWOOD — The FIFA World Cup reached the win-or-go-home stage.
Canada and South Africa were the first to take part in the Round of 32 elimination games, meeting at SoFi Stadium in the only World Cup game on Sunday.
The two were scoreless and nearing overtime when Canada’s Stephen Eustaquio ended the suspense with a goal in the 92nd minute – just two minutes into stoppage time – to send the Canadians on to victory, 1-0, before 69,237 mostly red-dressed Canadian fans.
“It was incredible to see them score last-minute like that,” said Canadian supporter Dominic Lauzon, who made the trip from Quebec to be at Sunday’s game. “This experience was awesome.”
Dominic Lauzon and Nicolas Savoie, both from Quebec, said the trip to Los Angeles was worth it after seeing Canada score late to beat South Africa 1-0 in Sunday’s World Cup elimination game. Canada moves on to the Round of 16. pic.twitter.com/SQj1mNPR1R
— Fred J. Robledo
(@SGVNSports) June 28, 2026
Lauzon’s friend, Nicolas Savoie, also from Quebec, was feeling his nerves before the late goal.
“I was so stressed at the end, but at the end we pulled it off,” Savoie said. “I knew we could get through.”
Canada advances to the Round of 16, where it will play Monday’s Netherlands-Morocco winner on July 4 in Houston.
It was a day that started early for spectators, and more affordable for a change. Get in prices, which had been well over $1,000 the previous five World Cup games at SoFi, could be had for just under $400 on some ticket sites before the match.
Canadian fans poured into nearby Tom’s Watch Bar hours before kickoff to form a tailgate of sorts in preparation for the noon match between two nations that had never been to the knockout stage of a World Cup before.
Canada, one of the three host nations along with Mexico and the United States, had an opportunity for its first-round elimination game to be played in Vancouver later this week.
But a 2-1 loss to Switzerland in its final match in Group A dropped it to second place, changing its flight plans to Los Angeles for Sunday’s game.
Jean-Sebastien Roy and Francois Valois are both from Quebec getting ready for today’s Canada
, South Africa , World Cup elimination game at SoFi pic.twitter.com/veuMG4zetA — Fred J. Robledo
(@SGVNSports) June 28, 2026
It wasn’t ideal, but Canadian fans made themselves feel at home anyway, and the victory had to feel good.
Jean-Sebastien Roy of Quebec is the vice president of The Voyageurs, which is the official Canadian supporters group. They were part of a large contingent at Tom’s Watch Bar who turned the restaurant into a sea of red before parading two blocks to the stadium for the match.
Roy said The Voyageurs brought a few hundred fans for the pre-game festivities, and he expected it to feel like a home game once they made their way into Sofi.
“Hopefully we can fill the stadium,” Roy said. “Usually when we come to (Los Angeles), we’re a couple of thousand, but hopefully we can fill in at least 50,000 people. That would be just awesome. Yes, we would have loved to stay in Vancouver, but we’ll do it our way. The U.S. are our friends, hopefully we can have them on board with us for this game.”
Francois Valois, also from Quebec, was putting down some brews for breakfast at Tom’s Watch Bar, too. For him, there was just no other way.
“I’m a super fan and happy to be here,” Valois said. “It’s kind of early to be drinking, but we’ll see how it ends up. I love the weather and the stadium is amazing. I was here for the U.S. game last week, so I’m glad I could stay here for the Canadian game. I’ve got the goosebumps. I’m super emotional about it. For me, it’s been a 25-year dream to see this.”
Andy Cook and his son Evan both jumped on a plane from Toronto once they learned Canada was heading to Los Angeles for today’s World Cup elimination game between Canada
and South Africa at Sofi. They’re with a few hundred fans at Tom’s pre-gaming it before today’s match. pic.twitter.com/bPSXwtKHqx — Fred J. Robledo
(@SGVNSports) June 28, 2026
Andy Cook and his son Evan are both from Toronto. They made last-minute plans to fly to Los Angeles, and found comfort with other Canadians at the local bar.
“We brought a lot of Canada with us,” Andy Cook said. “Look around, it’s 8 a.m., in the morning and the place is packed. We got our first point and our first win (in the 2026 World Cup), so let’s get our first elimination game win.”
Evan Cook said it’s a dream trip.
“We’ve been following Canada soccer pretty much my entire life, (my father) got me into it,” Evan Cook said. “It’s an amazing ride, it’s an addiction. There are always great people wherever you go. We were drinking last night with some Mexicans, some locals. Everybody loves the World Cup. Football just brings people together.”
Sunday’s match was unchartered territory for Canada and South Africa. Both had never been past the group stage before. So, not only were they both in an elimination game for the first time, it ended up being history-making for Canada.
South Africa, which was expelled from FIFA in 1976 as a consequence of its apartheid government, returned to participation in 1992, but didn’t qualify for the World Cup until 1998, and also made appearances in 2002 and 2010.
Canada qualified for the World Cup in 1986 and 2022.
South Africa, also dubbed Bafana-Bafana, finished as the runners-up in Group A after stunning South Korea 1-0 in its final Group game to finish in second place.
South Africa, ranked No. 61 in the world, is the third-lowest ranked side to play in the knockout stages of a World Cup, joining Nigeria (74th in 1998), Russia (70th in 2018) and even with Japan (61st in 2018).
There weren’t nearly as many South African fans on hand in comparison to Canada. There even appeared to be more Mexican fans in attendance on Sunday.
But the South African fans there were ready to get loud despite suffering a heartbreaking loss in the final minutes.
Lesley Linnett, his wife Taryh and daughter Sky are from Cape Town, South Africa. They now live in Santa Barbara, so the opportunity to be at Sunday’s game worked out perfectly.
Lesley Linnett, his wife Taryh and daughter Sky are from Cape Town here to watch South Africa. They reside now in Santa Barbara, but weren’t going to miss an opportunity to watch the Bafana Bafana in a World Cup match pic.twitter.com/otjjpsSP4I
— Fred J. Robledo
(@SGVNSports) June 28, 2026
South Africa may get drowned out by the large contingent of Canadian fans, but Chandni Naidoo wasn’t going to miss the the Bafana Bafana’s World Cup game. She travelled from Tennessee with her dad. pic.twitter.com/7JIwfOGGyo
— Fred J. Robledo
(@SGVNSports) June 28, 2026
“Super excited, we’re an hour away, so it wasn’t that bad (to get here),” Lesley Linnett said.
“We’re witnessing history,” his wife Taryh Linnett said. “It’s joy, it’s excitement. We didn’t know we would get so far, but we’re excited to be here.”
Chandi Naidoo, a South African who lives in Nashville, arranged a last-minute flight with her father on Friday to be at Sunday’s game.
“When we found out the game was in Los Angeles, we booked our flights (right away) to get here,” Naidoo said. “We’re huge soccer fans and super excited the World Cup is here so we could make plans to see our team play.”
Naidoo admitted that it may feel lonely with so many supporters from Canada, but she didn’t care.
“I feel like we need our (Bafana Bafana) fans here to match it,” Naidoo said of the energy they needed to match Canadian fans. “But we’re pretty loud, I think we can do it.”