South Africa vs Canada | FIFA World Cup 2026 — Round of 32 | Preview and Prediction

The first Round of 32 fixture of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be played between South Africa and co-hosts Canada at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, California, the USA.

For the game, here we present our preview and prediction.

FIFA WC26 | Ro32: RSA vs CAN | 00:30 IST, June 29, 2026

After a resounding defeat in their first group-stage game against Mexico, not many expected South Africa to qualify for the round of 32, but they came back well to draw against Czechia and beat South Korea to ensure qualification.

In their final game against South Korea, Bafana Bafana put up better attacking numbers despite far less possession. South Korea couldn’t make much impact going forward, while South Africa proved to be more clinical. Thapelo Maseko scored the only goal of the game, which proved to be enough to take South Africa to the knockouts and send South Korea packing.

Their opponents for this game, Canada, drew their opening game against Bosnia & Herzegovina but thrashed Qatar 6–1 to make knockout qualification a formality. Although they lost their final group-stage game to Switzerland, they made it to the last 32 after four points from their first two games, but with this defeat they lost the home advantage and have to play in the States instead of on home turf.

Against the Swiss, Canada were handed an early double blow in the second half courtesy of goals from Rubén Vargas and Johan Manzambi. Although Canada played much better after that and pulled one back, with Promise David scoring off a Nathan Saliba ball, they missed several chances and couldn’t avoid defeat.

South Africa don’t have any injuries for this game, but they will miss Themba Zwane due to suspension, while Canada will be without Alfie Jones (thigh injury) and Ismaël Koné (broken ankle).

Looking at the two sides, Canada are definitely the favourites to progress further. They have played attacking football throughout the group stage and possess a top-quality squad with several match-winners: Jonathan David, Cyle Larin, and Nathan Saliba are key to their chances. On the other hand, although South Africa are feisty and can defend well, they do not possess a great attack that can really trouble Jesse Marsch’s men. We expect a comfortable win for the co-hosts.

Score Prediction: South Africa 0–2 Canada
Venue: Los Angeles Stadium, Inglewood, California, USA