Canada Knock South Africa Out as Eustáquio’s Late Winner Seals It

VANCOUVER — Canada have eliminated South Africa from the 2026 FIFA World Cup after Stephen Eustáquio scored a dramatic late winner to seal a group stage victory for the North American co-hosts. Sports247 Nigeria and Vanguard both confirmed the result, which sends Canada through to the knockout rounds while South Africa head home after a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful campaign.

Eustáquio’s goal, which arrived in the closing minutes of the match, sparked enormous celebrations from the home crowd, with Canada’s co-host status turning what might have been a neutral venue into an intensely partisan atmosphere. The win has major implications for both countries’ group stage positions and confirms Canada as genuine tournament contenders rather than ceremonial host participants.

Rapper Drake, who had placed a $770,000 bet on Canada to defeat South Africa ahead of the match, reportedly pocketed more than $1 million, approximately N1.3 billion, following the result. The wager had attracted significant attention before the match, with social media in both North America and Nigeria tracking the outcome partly through the lens of the celebrity bet.

South Africa’s Exit

South Africa’s elimination drew sympathy from Pan-African football observers who had hoped to see the nation’s debut tournament campaign last longer. The Bafana Bafana showed moments of quality but ultimately could not match the consistency of better-resourced opponents. Their World Cup debut was nonetheless celebrated as a milestone by South African football administrators.

Nigerian football analysts watching from the sidelines of a World Cup the Super Eagles did not qualify for noted the quality gap between South Africa’s performance and that of other African qualifiers, particularly Morocco, which remains among the favourites to become the first African team to reach a World Cup final.

Canada’s Momentum

Canada’s knockout round prospects are now attracting serious attention from football observers. The co-hosts have the advantage of playing in familiar conditions with enormous home support, and their roster, built primarily from players in Major League Soccer and European leagues, has shown cohesion and tactical discipline under coach Jesse Marsch.