Stephen Eustáquio plays Canada’s World Cup hero as last-minute goal defeats South Africa

After all the subterfuge, after all the sleepless nights and marathon planning sessions, Jesse Marsch looked at his roster before the most important game of their lives — before the first men’s World Cup knockout game in Canada’s history — and went with his runners. In every position, he took the fastest man he had. He went for lungs, and he went for legs.

It was hearts that decided it in the end.

Stephen Eustáquio — 29 years old, quiet, steady, unheralded — scored in the second minute of stoppage time to claim a last-gasp 1-0 win for Canada. 

Canada will now head to Houston for the Round of 16 to face the winner of Monday’s game between Morocco and the Netherlands on July 4.

It was a goal and a game that changed everything.

The first half began promisingly enough. With largely the same lineup (minus the sorely missed Ismaël Koné) that looked tentative in the nervy opener against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada came out with more fight. Its press bordered on the maniacal, and it felt as though it might yield some early dividends.

But the South Africans, who upset Korea in the group stage by playing cagey, counter-attacking soccer, managed the pressure and gradually slowed the game. If Canada tried to do everything quickly, with urgency, South Africa did everything with a pace-sapping composure.

Canada finally managed to bring the game back up to its level with minutes to spare in the first half. Its best chance came on a corner, when Moïse Bombito’s header was cleared off the line, and Tajon Buchanan’s follow-up was smartly saved by Ronwen Williams.

Only moments later, at the start of stoppage time, Canada had a justified penalty shot when Richie Laryea was brought down in the box. It was almost certainly a penalty by Premier League standards, but it was the sort of call that hasn’t been given at this World Cup, and it wasn’t given again.

When the whistle blew at half, Marsch immediately made for the referees before he was held back and redirected by Bombito.

Marsch was likely also frustrated by his team’s play. It wasn’t a bad half, exactly, but it wasn’t as emphatic as he would have liked, and the hydration break flattened Canada. Jonathan David and Tani Oluwaseyi were especially muted up front.

They combined to miss a great chance midway through the second half. Oluwaseyi ran through on a semi-breakaway, and his lunging shot was saved by Williams by a whisper of his wrist. The ball went high, and a charging David probably should have thrown himself harder at it.

Instead, the South Africans cleared another threat.

Marsch soon summoned waves of substitutes, including Alphonso Davies, making his first appearance for the national team in more than a year. When he arrived, Eustáquio, who served as captain in his absence, took the armband off and put it on Davies, less a torch passing than a relinquishing.

But it was Eustáquio who led his team to the Round of 16. His volley from well outside the box was inch perfect.

Last week’s loss against Switzerland meant that Canada had to travel over a border for the first time, one of the three co-hosts now, almost strangely, playing away from home. But if there was a solid second-place reward, it was drawing South Africa in Los Angeles.

There have never been more eyes on Canada’s team. Los Angeles Stadium (SoFi Stadium in normal times) was a magnificent stage. There were some empty seats — likely left unattended by the thousands of Korean fans who expected to be there — but the crowd was loud and festive and colourful, a spectacular audience.

By some fluke of scheduling, after the group stage’s cascade of soccer, the game was Sunday’s only fixture, the kickoff to the Round of 32. Tens of millions more watched during an electric afternoon at home and in primetime in South Africa and Europe.

For Canada, the game meant the world. For some of its players, it was a chance to change the course of their lives.

This was an audition, and for an anointed few, an elevation.

None reached greater heights than Stephen Eustáquio.