INGLEWOOD, Calif. — In many ways, Canada’s 1-0 win over South Africa on Sunday was the perfect curtain-raiser for the first-ever World Cup round of 32.
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Both teams were making their World Cup knockout-round debuts. Canada, ranked No. 32 by FIFA, cautiously expected to be here. South Africa, at 54, was punching above its weight. The programs had combined to win just four World Cup matches in tournament history entering the afternoon.
Yet the World Cup’s expansion to a 48-team format, and the corresponding dilution of the opening-round competition, allowed both teams to advance as the runners-up in their respective groups. With the new format came the introduction of the round of 32, and the opportunity for twice as many countries to experience knockout-round soccer.
The match wasn’t exactly an instant classic. Both teams looked tepid for lengthy stretches. Slick play and genuine chances were few and far between. The crowd repeatedly jeered as South Africa knocked the ball around the back and Canada declined to apply pressure. At times, the stakes seemed to overwhelm the knockout-round newcomers.
But the match delivered a spirited atmosphere — with a near-sellout crowd of 69,237 — and scintillating drama all the same. In second-half stoppage time, Stephen Eustáquio etched his name in Canadian soccer lore when he netted the winner off a superb half-volley.
“The timing of the goal means that the win is incredibly dramatic,” said Canada Coach Jesse Marsch, the first American to oversee a knockout-round win since Bruce Arena led the U.S. to the 2002 quarterfinals. “And I think the effect that it will have in Canada and inspiring people will be immense.”
That’s the charm of a supersized World Cup: more teams, more games, more iconic moments. And the matches that truly matter are just getting started.
“Obviously, we’re heroes right now for the country,” Eustáquio said, “because this is the first time we ever won a knockout round.”
Here are more storylines to watch as the first World Cup round of 32 unfolds, with 15 games on tap over the next five days:
The Americans cruised to the knockout round by dispatching Paraguay and Australia before fielding a reserve-heavy lineup for a meaningless loss to Turkey. The superlatives were extensive: The U.S. won consecutive World Cup games for the first time since 1930. It rolled to the group title with a game to spare for the first time, period. The Americans have already notched a program-best eight goals at this tournament.
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But it will all be for naught if the U.S. falls to Bosnia on Wednesday night in Santa Clara, California. For a team that hasn’t won a knockout game since 2002, ending that drought is the bare minimum for it to consider this tournament a success.
“It’s crunch time,” U.S. forward Folarin Balogun said. “You lose, you go home. So this is the business end, and this is the stage where, in my opinion, the big players step forward, and the big players carry the pressure and make things happen.”
The round of 32 features its fair share of tantalizing matchups. An ever-formidable Netherlands faces 2022 semifinalist Morocco on Monday in Guadalupe, Mexico. Senegal, the Africa Cup of Nations winner (before its title was controversially stripped), will meet a talented Belgium team in Seattle on Wednesday. And two aging icons will go head-to-head when Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal faces Luka Modric’s Croatia on Thursday in Toronto.
But the round of 16 is when the heavyweights will start to collide — barring a slew of upsets. Should Germany and France advance, those storied powerhouses will meet July 4 in Philadelphia. Victories by Spain and Portugal will put the Iberian rivals on a round of 16 collision course. Five-time champion Brazil could face budding power Norway, and England might have to battle Mexico in Mexico City.
That said, none of those contenders can afford to look ahead. France first must dispatch an inconsistent but dangerous Sweden side Tuesday in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Brazil could have its hands full against Japan on Monday in Houston. Mexico faces its stiffest test of the tournament so far when Ecuador visits Mexico City on Tuesday. And underdog Congo will have nothing to lose when it faces England on Wednesday in Atlanta.
To say that the big names have risen to the occasion at this World Cup would be an understatement. Lionel Messi, the 39-year-old Argentine legend, notched a tournament-high six goals during the group stage — taking his World Cup scoring streak to seven games and blowing past Miroslav Klose to become the tournament’s all-time leading scorer. He’ll look to extend that record Friday in Miami Gardens, Florida, when Argentina meets Cape Verde, a nation of some 530,000 people that became the smallest country to make the knockout round.
Lurking two goals behind Messi on this tournament’s leaderboard — and three behind him on the all-time tally — is French star Kylian Mbappé. Mbappé netted four times in the group stage. Les Bleus teammate Ousmane Dembélé, the reigning world player of the year, also has four goals. The same goes for Brazilian catalyst Vinícius Júnior and Norwegian giant Erling Haaland — two more names that will come up in any conversation about the greatest active players.
“That’s the magic of the tournament,” U.S. defender Antonee Robinson said. “You want to see the world’s best doing what they do on this stage.”
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