STAR WORLD CUP PREVIEW Sun: South Africa v Canada

Two teams making their debuts in the knockout stage of the competition get the last 32 round underway in Los Angeles on Sunday, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

While the Canadians have missed out on home advantage this time, they are still warm 4/6 favourites (and as short as 1/3 to qualify) to beat a South African side that have managed just one goal from open play so far.

Despite their loss to Switzerland, Canada have arguably been one of the surprise packages of the tournament so far and they’ve reached the knockout stages without their inspirational captain Alphonso Davies.

However, the Bayern Munich star is now available for selection, which is great news for Jesse Marsch.
South Africa have qualified for the knockout stages thanks largely to a 1-0 win over South Korea – a game in which they had just 32% of the possession.

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South Africa v Canada
FIFA World Cup – Round of 32
20:00 ITV & STV

HEAD-TO-HEAD
NOV 2007 FRIENDLY South Africa 2-0 Canada

SOUTH AFRICA 🇿🇦
JUN 2026 WORLD CUP South Africa 1-0 South Korea
JUN 2026 WORLD CUP Czech Republic 1-1 South Africa
JUN 2026 WORLD CUP Mexico 2-0 South Africa
JUN 2026 FRIENDLY Jamaica 1-1 South Africa
MAY 2026 FRIENDLY South Africa 0-0 Nicaragua

CANADA 🇨🇦
JUN 2026 WORLD CUP Switzerland 2-1 Canada
JUN 2026 WORLD CUP Canada 6-0 Qatar
JUN 2026 WORLD CUP Canada 1-1 Bosnia
JUN 2026 FRIENDLY Canada 1-1 Ireland
JUN 2026 FRIENDLY Canada 2-0 Uzbekistan

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Canada’s defeat to Switzerland was only their second in 21 games, and they were unlucky to come away without at least a point from that game having had more than double the amount of efforts on goal of their opponents.

Marsch’s side have outshot nine of their last ten opponents, and it’s hard to see that trend not continuing against a South African side that have failed to impress in any of their games so far.

This looks a great opportunity for Canada to make the last 16 and the 4/6 about them getting the job done in 90 mins is by no means unappealing.

However, there is some value in the goalscorer markets, where Canada striker Jonathan David, who bagged himself a hat-trick against Qatar (22/1 to repeat that feat) and is averaging 4.3 shots per game so far in this tournament, looks a very decent bet to score any time at 5/4.

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