The Canadian men's national team's home World Cup is over, but their tournament continues on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Canada become the first FIFA World Cup host nation ever to play a match on foreign soil when they take on South Africa in the Round of 32.
A golden opportunity to stay at BC Place in Vancouver through the round of 16 was missed in a 2-1 loss to Switzerland in Canada's final group game. A win or a draw would have seen them finish top of the group, but instead they finished as the runners-up.
On paper, South Africa is about as favourable a matchup as Canada could have expected after finishing second. Of the 48 teams that participated in the tournament, South Africa, who finished second in Group A behind Mexico, are the 39th-highest-ranked side at the tournament — currently sitting 54th in the FIFA World Rankings.
But the paper has been wrong plenty of times this tournament.
To that end, most assumed a second-place finish for Canada would mean facing South Korea in front of a heavily pro-South Korean crowd in LA. Instead, a tremendous performance from South Africa in a 1-0 victory over South Korea in Monterrey earned them their first-ever trip to the World Cup knockout stage.
They will be riding high off that result, one that gave them a strong blueprint to progress further. Defensively solid, they frustrated South Korea before creating plenty of great chances on the counter-attack with some direct and decisive play.
For Canada, this match will be the ultimate stress test of their biggest weakness under Jesse Marsch — an inability to score against opponents who sit back and allow them to control the ball.
Canada's vulnerability in transition, meanwhile, cost them in a brutal 10-minute stretch to begin the second half against Switzerland. They cannot afford to switch off like that again, or their tournament could be over.
South Africa haven't proven to be quite as lethal as the Swiss, with their goal against South Korea the only one from open play they have scored this tournament, but Canada won't want to test their luck.
Canada did show excellent fight to get a goal back this past Wednesday in their group stage finale, and came painfully close to adding a second. Nathan Saliba's tremendous assist to Promise David for one of the best goals of this tournament so far demonstrated the level of quality this team has at its very best.
A big positive for Canada from that match against Switzerland was the play of the 22-year-old Saliba in his first World Cup start, as he finished with 36 of 41 passes complete, three successful dribbles and six defensive contributions. Saliba's attacking inventiveness will be vital to Canada's chances on Sunday.
Saliba's newfound importance, in place of Ismaël Koné, underlines a major story for Canada that just isn't going away: injuries. Alphonso Davies still hasn't played a minute. Alfie Jones looks increasingly unlikely as an option, and Moïse Bombito didn't appear against Switzerland. Stephen Eustáquio was unfit to start, although word out of training is that he is "good to go" on Sunday.
Until the final whistle, however, it is unlikely there will be any true clarity as to who is or was available, either to start or even off the bench, given the secrecy and deception — let's call it Decoygate — around Canada's injury situation.
Canada and South Africa have only ever played once before, a 2-0 win for Bafana Bafana in a friendly in Durban on Nov. 20, 2007. It is fair to say that the stakes will be a touch higher when they meet again just under two decades later.
This is the biggest men's World Cup match in the history of both countries. Canada are no longer playing on home soil, but the chance to galvanize the country remains just as significant.
