{"id":742557,"date":"2026-07-04T10:13:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T10:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/742557\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T10:13:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T10:13:24","slug":"usa-mexico-canada-wins-send-hosts-to-world-cup-round-of-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/742557\/","title":{"rendered":"USA, Mexico, Canada Wins Send Hosts to World Cup Round of 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

The World Cup\u2019s host nations just keep on winning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All three countries \u2013 the United States, Mexico and Canada \u2013- have advanced out of the Round of 32 knockout round stage, and on Saturday will start competing in Round of 16 knockout round matches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Northeastern University\u2019s NetSport research group helps break down some of the most interesting data points on each team\u2019s victory in their knockout round matches.<\/p>\n

Canada\u00a0<\/p>\n

Round of 32 match: defeated South Africa, 1-0
Round of 16 match: plays Morocco at 1 p.m. E.T. Saturday at Houston Stadium<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s duel against South Africa was the first knockout match of the tournament, so\u00a0 excitement was high. With a 30-place rank difference between them \u2013 Canada is ranked 30th and South Africa is ranked 60th \u2013 the expectation was that the North American team would lead the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, that is not exactly how it played out. While the Canadians created a number high-quality chances, accumulating a total of 1.43 of expected goals, or xG, during the match, South Africa\u2019s defense was strong. According to the data, South Africa\u2019s goalie Ronwen Williams <\/a>saved a total of four big chances, which are shots that have a high probability of resulting in a goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Canada wasn\u2019t able to score until the 91st minute of the game in stoppage time, when central midfielder Stephen Eustaquio punched a goal from outside the box.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While South Africa\u2019s defense was impressive, it created far fewer high-quality scoring opportunities, accumulating a total of.18 of expected goals, during the match<\/p>\n

This is the first time Canada has ever made it to a knockout round match in World Cup history, according to <\/a>FIFA.\u00a0 It will play Morocco today at 1 p.m. at Houston Stadium.<\/p>\n

\"\"This graphic shows South Africa\u2019s and Canada\u2019s cumulative expected goals in their round of 32 match. Courtesy of NetSI Sport<\/p>\n

How the host nations reined victorious in the first knockout round\"\"\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Mexico<\/p>\n

Round of 32 match: defeated Ecuador, 2-0<\/p>\n

Round of 16 match: plays England at 8 p.m. Sunday, July 5, at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City<\/p>\n

Mexico, ranked 14th, secured an early lead and kept it in its knockout match against Ecuador, ranked 23rd when two of its key players, left winger Julian Quinones and star striker Raul Jimenez, scored goals in the first half.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both goals are representative of those two players\u2019 typical style of play, Northeastern researchers highlighted. Quinones made the first goal at the 21st minute, after receiving a pass from the left flank from his teammate Roberto Alvarado. It was a textbook type of goal for Quinones, who is particularly dangerous in that zone. Throughout the match, Quinones received the ball approximately 27 times in the left wing and left half-space of the pitch, the data shows.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jimenez, by contrast, delivered his goal at the 31st minute just inside the 18-yard box, a prime location for the country\u2019s star finisher.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mexico continues its streak of not conceding a single goal to its opponents at this year\u2019s World Cup. The country will play England Sunday, July 5 at 8 p.m. at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.<\/p>\n

\"\"A passing sequence map showing the events leading up to Julian Quinones\u2019 first goal for Mexico in its round of 32 match against Ecuador. Courtesy of NetSI Sport<\/p>\n

How the host nations reined victorious in the first knockout round\"\"\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Round of 32 match: defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2-0
Round of 16 match: plays Belgium at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, July 6, at Seattle Stadium<\/p>\n

The United States match against Bosnia and Herzegovina can be broken up into two phases \u2013 before star striker Folarian Balogun was taken out of the game and after, the data highlights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the first half of the game, Balogun was key in the team\u2019s success, securing its first goal at the 44th minute mark, placing them in the lead over Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1-0.<\/p>\n

However, he was later taken out of the game in the second half after receiving a red card following a scuffle\u00a0 where he stepped on an opponent\u2019s leg.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Down a man, the team stayed in formation for the rest of the game and did not swap any players for a substitution until the 87th minute.<\/p>\n

That was a smart call, the data shows, as the team\u2019s strong setup formation was key in its overall success. Attacking midfielder Mark Tillman went on to score the country\u2019s second goal on a free kick at the 81st minute mark.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The United States will play Belgium next on Monday, July 6 at Seattle Stadium.<\/p>\n

\"\"A passing network map showing the U.S.\u2019s player formation. Courtesy of NetSI Sport<\/p>\n

How the host nations reined victorious in the first knockout round\"\"\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Data analysis provided by Brennan Klein, director for Northeastern University\u2019s NetSI Sport research group.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The World Cup\u2019s host nations just keep on winning.\u00a0 All three countries \u2013 the United States, Mexico and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":742558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-742557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/742558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}