Canadian players celebrating after scoring the equalizer / FIfa

Canada has scored yet another first. This time it has become the first team Enter the round of 16, thanks to a 92-minute goal by Stephen Estaquio against South Africa in Los Angeles on June 28.

Incidentally, when the  got underway on June 11, it was Mexico, one of the co-hosts, to record first win, defeating South Africa 2-0 in a game that was marred by three red cards.

And today, it was the turn of the second co-host, Canada, to score the second first by becoming the first team to reach the round of 16. Again, the team that lost the round of 32 game was South Africa.

Now Canada awaits the winner of the Netherlands-Morocco game in the pre-quarterfinals.

Lionel Messi scored his sixth goal of the tournament as defending champions Argentina defeated Jordan 3-1 while Algeria and Austria played an exciting 3-3 draw. Argentina thus joins Mexico and France to win all three group matches. And Lionel Messi has added yet another distinction to his credit by scoring in all the three group matches here. England beat bottom placed Panama 2-0 while Croatia overpowered spirited Ghana 2-1.

In another high intensity game, Portugal and Columbia played a goalless draw. Columbia finished at the top of the group while Portugal took the second spot.

“All my players are Canadian heroes,” remarked jubilant Jesse Marsch, the coach of the Canadian team after the game. True, all members of the Canadian team, playing their first game of the current World Cup, on a foreign territory, played their hearts out.

This World Cup has been special for them. In the opener the held Bosnia Herzegovina to a 1-1 draw for their first ever World Cup point in three appearances. They followed it with a massive 6-0 win over Qatar, their maiden win in the tournament. There was some disappointment, when they lost their third game against Switzerland 1-2 to finish second in the group thus becoming the first of the three co-host nations to travel outside their national jurisdictions to play their first knockout round match.

And Los Angeles turned out to be a lucky venue for them as they managed to get the better of South Africa, also playing its first ever round of 32 in the World Cup, by a solitary goal that came in the 92nd minute. And the hero of the game for Canadians from coast to coast to coast was none other than Stephen Estaquio who scored his 5th goal in 60 appearances.

Canada’s historic run at the FIFA World Cup had sent waves of jubilations and celebrations not only all over the entire North America but also to the rest of the world following a nail-biting victory over South Africa on June 28.

Canada now awaits two soccer heavyweights – the Netherlands and Morocco - to meet in their own Round of 32 match on June 29. The winner will meet Canada on Saturday in Houston.

While Canada lost out on the home-field advantage it had enjoyed through its first three games, thousands of Canadian supporters made the journey down to California for the big occasion.

Head coach Jesse Marsch made four changes to the Canada starting line-up from that final group-stage match against the Swiss. Most notably, central defender Moïse Bombito made his first start of the tournament. An injured Ismail Kone must be heavy on the mind of coach Jesse Marsch.

Tani Oluwaseyi, Liam Millar and Stephen Eustáquio, all of whom came on as second-half substitutes against Switzerland, all returned to Canada’s starting lineup. And Stephen Estaquio grabbed the opportunity and provide the confidence placed in him was no fluke.

Despite assurances from Marsch that captain Alphonso Davies would make his first appearance of the tournament on June 28, Davies did not start the match.

It was a shaky start, with the first clear-cut chance coming to Jonathan David in the 17th minute. His shot, coming off a Eustáquio corner kick, went wide of the South African goal.

Five minutes later, Derek Cornelius got his head to the end of a Eustáquio free kick, but it was right at South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. Oluwaseyi had Canada's next attempt at goal in the 34th minute, a tough-angle shot that Williams caught.

Canada nearly got the breakthrough in the waning minutes of the first half as a Bombito header was scrambled off the goal line by the South African defenders.

There were loud shouts for a penalty kick in first half stoppage time as Richie Laryea went down while streaking into the penalty area. But the referee waved away the appeals, and was not advised by the video assistant referee to give it another look.

Despite Canada loading on the pressure, the game went into halftime at 0-0.

Not much separated the sides out of the halftime break. Second-half substitute Niko Sigur sent Oluwaseyi through on goal in the 65th minute, but Williams made a good save, and the rebound was cleared before David could pounce.

With the game deadlocked, Davies finally saw the field for Canada, coming in as a 75th-minute substitute. He nearly made an instant impact, helping set up Promise David for a long-distance shot that went just centimetres wide.

And as extra time began looking inevitable, Eustáquio stepped up in second-half stoppage time to thump home the biggest goal in the history of the Canadian men's national team.

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