{"id":762267,"date":"2026-06-26T10:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/762267\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T10:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:51:11","slug":"shaking-off-swiss-letdown-canada-braces-for-track-meet-with-south-africa-in-round-of-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/762267\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaking off Swiss letdown, Canada braces for \u2018track meet\u2019 with South Africa in round of 32"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada’s Alistair Johnston thinks Sunday’s round of 32 match against South Africa will be a great one for fans, saying the game in Los Angeles would be a track meet.Abbie Parr\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

In the eternal words of Ferris Bueller, life moves pretty fast.<\/p>\n

One moment it looks like you\u2019re about to face South Korea in your first World Cup knockout game; suddenly, it\u2019s South Africa.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday afternoon at BC Place Vancouver, Canada squandered homefield advantage in a deflating loss to Switzerland<\/a>. The undermanned Canadian squad lost 2-1 to the better team. The players came achingly close to the draw that would have kept them at home to play the round of 32 in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

Wednesday night, surprise: Lowly ranked South Africa upended the favoured South Korea and it\u2019s now South Africa that Canada faces Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles. In FIFA\u2019s rankings, Canada is 30th, South Korea 25th and South Africa 60th. (Switzerland is 19th.)<\/p>\n

South Africa, like Canada, is in the knockout round for the first time, in this gargantuan 48-team World Cup. South Africa in the group stage, like Canada, booked a win (1-0 against South Korea), loss (2-0 to Mexico) and draw (1-1 versus Czechia).<\/p>\n

How a sword helped shape the identity of Canada’s World Cup squad<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet South Africa probably presents a more promising route through the round of 32 for Canada compared with South Korea. It\u2019s one day at a time, but the allure of truly new soccer terrain feels within reach, a round of 16 match in Houston on July 4, where a top team, either Netherlands (eighth in FIFA\u2019s rankings) or Morocco (seventh), will await.<\/p>\n

Winning solves everything and answers all doubting questions. Win on Sunday in L.A., and falling short against the Swiss fades into memory.<\/p>\n

Ahead of Canada\u2019s training session on Thursday at the University of British Columbia, vibes felt reasonably loose. <\/p>\n

Stalwart defender Alistair Johnston called on Canadians to shake off the loss and \u201cget behind the team\u201d on Sunday. He described South Africa as an athletic team that defends well. He predicted something of a free-for-all, an open game of end-to-end soccer. It\u2019ll entertain the casual fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt it\u2019s going to be a bit of a track meet,\u201d Johnston told reporters. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada head coach Jesse Marsch wants to see a faster game from his squad, which was hampered by slow spurts in two of three World Cup group play matches.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Such a style would suit Canada well. At their best, the Canadians are sprinters, as coach Jesse Marsch wants them to be, in his full-throttle philosophy. After the Swiss loss, Marsch bemoaned a lack of sprinting. <\/p>\n

This is a recurring problem, Canada falling flat at the wrong moments. Wilting under the World Cup bright lights. <\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, Canada should have beaten Bosnia-Herzegovina, ranked 64th by FIFA, but nerves led to a subpar start and 1-1 draw. Against Qatar, ranked 56th, Canada came out hot and got its first World Cup win, the 6-0 rout.<\/p>\n

Against Switzerland, the team came out disastrously flat in the second half, went down 2-0 and couldn\u2019t recover. <\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: Ten disastrous minutes derail Canada’s easy path forward at the World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

Cohosting the World Cup cost Canadians more than $1-billion to stage 13 matches. The price promised homefield advantage in the rounds of 32 and 16, if Canada won its group, among the weakest in the tournament. <\/p>\n

But the past is past.<\/p>\n

The team knew its best self was required against Switzerland. Didn\u2019t happen. Sunday presents an open door of redemption. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re at our best, we can beat anyone,\u201d Johnston said, \u201cbut we\u2019ve also shown that if we\u2019re not fully at it, we can lose to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Marsch on Thursday, the former pro in cleats and a stopwatch around his neck, said South Africa dominated South Korea and \u201cimposed themselves in the way they wanted the game to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada needs to contain the South Africans\u2019 athleticism by limiting their opportunities in open space. <\/p>\n

Canada needs to be disciplined in its tactics. <\/p>\n

And Canada, Marsch said, needs to be \u201cbrave to go after the game in our ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

The usual Alphonso Davies questions were asked and answered. The star had been set to play against Switzerland, or so Marsch had claimed before the game, but Davies was in fact a decoy. The ploy came off as a sort of ineffectual gamesmanship. <\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: With Davies decoy claim, Canada Soccer still can\u2019t get out of its own way<\/a><\/p>\n

Davies, dealing with his third hamstring injury this year, went to Marsch early in the morning before the Swiss game. He told the coach he wanted to play. The coach, in Marsch\u2019s telling, said no. \u201cTo be honest\u201d is how Marsch prefaced the story. Take that all with a shaker of salt. <\/p>\n

Davies at first was disappointed and Marsch said they\u2019d think about it. Davies in the end supposedly realized it was the right decision.<\/p>\n

Marsch was then asked about what Davies needs to show that he\u2019s really and truly ready to go against South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not telling you,\u201d Marsch said smiling, to some laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what if I tell you? It\u2019s probably a lie anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

More laughs. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada continues to wait on Alphonso Davies, who is yet to see the field for his nation in this World Cup, due to recovery from a recent hamstring injury.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Whether Davies plays on Sunday \u2013 he dodged reporters\u2019 questions at BC Place after the Swiss game, seemingly on a feigned cellphone call as he walked by \u2013 let\u2019s recall Davies\u2019s own words to TSN before the tournament. Asked if he\u2019d play at all in this World Cup, he said: maybe yes, maybe no. We\u2019ll see Sunday.<\/p>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, Johnston said of Davies: \u201cWe\u2019ll see if he\u2019s ready to play or not this Sunday but, yeah, that\u2019s still up in the air, I\u2019d say.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is not, and hasn\u2019t been, a squad at full strength. Davies of course, but there\u2019s also top defender Mo\u00efse Bombito, who played only in the easygoing second half against Qatar. And the absence of keystone midfielder Isma\u00ebl Kon\u00e9 showed against Switzerland, especially in getting the ball up the pitch to drive the attack. <\/p>\n

Among other player question marks is midfielder Stephen Eust\u00e1quio. He played most of the Bosnia game and all of the Qatar game. He didn\u2019t start against the Swiss, came on in the 58th minute and looked pretty good.<\/p>\n

Canada does not have \u201call of our weapons at our disposal,\u201d Marsch said. The team is closer to full health.<\/p>\n

The tournament clock, however, becomes inexorable, and now there is no margin for missteps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Canada’s Alistair Johnston thinks Sunday’s round of 32 match against South Africa will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[263469,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-762267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-2026worldcupcanada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}