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

This is the first Round of 32 knockout fixture that will be played between South Africa and co-hosts Canada at the Los Angeles Stadium in the USA. 

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

FIFA WC26 | Round of 32: 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 RO32 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 had better attacking stats than the Koreans even with far less possession. South Korea kept and passed the ball more but couldn’t make much impact going forward while South Africa proved to be more clinical with Thapelo Maseko scoring the only goal of the game which proved to be enough to progress, knocking out South Korea from the competition. 

Their opponents for this game, Canada drew their opening game against Bosnia and Herzegovina but thrashed Qatar by a scoreline of 6-1 which almost ascertained their qualification. Although they lost their final group stage game to Switzerland, Canada had done enough to qualify for the knockouts after four points from two games but with this loss they lost their home advantage and will now have to play their RO32 fixture in the USA instead of home turf. 

Switzerland landed an early double blow in the second half with Ruben Vargas and Johan Manzambi on the scoresheet for the Swiss. Although Canada played much better after that and pulled one back with Promise David scoring from a Nathan Saliba assist, they missed several chances and couldn’t avoid the defeat. 

South Africa don’t have any injuries 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 is definitely the favourite as they have played attacking football throughout the group stage and possess a top-quality squad with several match-winners in their lineup. Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Nathan Saliba are key to their chances. Although the South Africans are feisty and can defend well, they do not possess a great attack that can really trouble Jesse Marsch’s men. Our prediction for this game would be a comfortable win for the co-hosts. 

Score Prediction: South Africa 0-2 Canada 

Venue: The Los Angeles Stadium, California, USA