Canada coach Jesse Marsch and defender Alistair Johnston warned that South Africa will pose a significant challenge in Sunday’s FIFA World Cup round-of-32 match at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. South Africa beat South Korea 1-0 when Thapelo Maseko scored in the second half, finishing second in Group A behind Mexico and advancing to the knockout rounds for the first time in the country’s history after exits in 1998, 2002 and 2010.
Marsch said he was impressed by South Africa’s performance against South Korea, noting many had expected the Asian side to dominate. “Many people were expecting South Korea to dominate that game, but it was actually the other way around,” he told reporters. “What you see in South Africa is a team that’s very physical, that in open spaces, is very athletic, and have a lot of belief right now in what they’re doing.”
“As the match was going on, as much as you would say that South Korea is the better team, at the end of the game, what you see is that South Africa earned that result, and they were the better team, and they’re going to give us a big challenge,” Marsch added.
Johnston pointed to South Africa’s path through Group A — a 2-0 opening loss to host Mexico, a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic and the win over South Korea — as evidence of the team’s quality. “They’re obviously a really strong team. You don’t finish second in the World Cup group without doing something right,” he said, praising their ability to hold on in the final 20 minutes and predicting an open game involving transitions and athletic play.
Canada reached the knockout stage after finishing second in Group B following a 2-1 loss to Switzerland in Vancouver, with goals from Ruben Vargas and Johan Manzambi holding off a late strike from substitute Promise David. Canada also displayed attacking firepower in the group stage when Jonathan David scored a hat trick in a 6-0 win over Qatar on June 18 in Vancouver, the widest margin of victory by a CONCACAF team in World Cup history and the first hat trick by a host nation since Geoff Hurst in 1966.
The match will mark another first: Canada becomes the first World Cup host nation to play a match outside its own borders. Japan and South Korea co-hosted the 2002 tournament but neither nation left home for a match, while the United States and Mexico, the other two co-hosts in 2026, both won their groups and remain in their own countries for the round of 32. South Africa coach Hugo Broos credited belief within his squad, saying, “The mentality in this group is amazing,” and described his players as unafraid of any opponent.
