Two nations that have never won a World Cup knockout match will, by Sunday evening, have one of them holding exactly that. Canada and South Africa meet at SoFi Stadium in the Round of 32 — first-ever knockout appearances for both, the winner advancing to the Round of 16 in Houston against the survivor of Netherlands–Morocco. Canada arrives as co-host and slight favorite, second in Group B on the back of a 6-0 demolition of Qatar (a Jonathan David hat trick). South Africa is here on its furthest-ever run, having stunned South Korea 1-0 on Thapelo Maseko’s strike to escape Group A.
South Africa’s national soccer team sings upon their arrival for the World Cup round of 32 soccer match against Canada in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
And the second the teams walk out, you’ll notice these two squads were built in completely opposite ways. Canada is a passport drawer: Ghana, Brooklyn, Lagos, Abidjan, all stitched onto one maple leaf. South Africa is a neighborhood: a side drawn almost entirely from Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, eleven men who never had to be found because they were always home. Same Round of 32. Opposite maps — which, if you’ve ever followed international baseball, is a story you already know by heart.
How to Watch
Match: Canada vs. South Africa, FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32
When: Sunday, June 28 — 3:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. PT
Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
TV (US): FOX and Telemundo · Stream: FOX One, Peacock
Referee: João Pinheiro (Portugal) · Line: Canada favored
Canada — Adopt Your Guy by Where He Was Born
Born in Ghana: Alphonso Davies, the captain and the whole story in one man — born in a Buduburam refugee camp to Liberian parents fleeing civil war, in Edmonton by age five, now a Bayern Munich star (and a hamstring watch all tournament). Born in the United States: Jonathan David, the Juventus striker who poured in that hat trick — born in Brooklyn to Haitian parents, raised in Haiti and then Ottawa, now scoring on American soil against the country he was born in. Born in Nigeria: forward Tani Oluwaseyi, in Canada by age 10. Born in Côte d’Ivoire: Ismaël Koné, who could have worn the Elephants’ orange — though a broken leg against Qatar has ended his tournament.
Born at home: the spine. Ontario gives you Cyle Larin, Tajon Buchanan, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea and Stephen Eustáquio (Leamington — the tomato capital of Canada, which we mention only because it’s wonderful). Quebec gives you keeper Maxime Crépeau and center back Moïse Bombito. Nineteen of the 26 were born and raised under the maple leaf; seven were gathered from across the planet. Jesse Marsch’s job was to make them one team.
From right to left, singers Justin Bieber, Romeo Miller, Trey Songz watch during a BBVA All-Star celebrity basketball game with the Toronto Raptors mascot at the NBA All Star Weekend in Los Angeles, Friday, Feb. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
If that diaspora sounds familiar, it’s because it’s exactly how Canada makes ballplayers. The greatest hitter the country can claim wasn’t really “produced” by Canada at all — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was born in Montreal in 1999, while his Dominican father starred for the Expos. Canada is a baseball crossroads, not a factory: Hall of Famers Ferguson Jenkins and Larry Walker, an MVP in Joey Votto, and a national program that just this spring reached the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals for the first time in its history before bowing out to Team USA. The Blue Jays — who pushed the Dodgers to a Game 7 in last fall’s World Series — are the lone big-league outpost north of the border, and this very World Cup staged Canada’s opener in Toronto, a baseball town if there ever was one.
The celebrity gallery is stacked, too: Vancouver’s own Ryan Reynolds — the Deadpool star who co-owns Wales’ Wrexham AFC — has been beating the drum for Les Rouges, alongside Mike Myers in full national kit, hockey’s own Connor McDavid, and Alanis Morissette, who sang the anthem at Canada’s opener. But the loudest maple-leaf noise might come from Justin Bieber, fresh off dropping his Live at Coachella set (with Dijon and Wizkid) to Spotify on Friday — the Ontario kid whose fandom bounces from the Maple Leafs draft floor to the World Cup with the same easy Canadian ubiquity.
And here’s a wager only this World Cup could offer: if you could get a number on it, what price would a book hang on Bieber being spotted at SoFi for a 3 p.m. Canada knockout in his own backyard? Shorter than Canada’s moneyline, surely. (This is WBN analysis, not a real posted market — the only line we’ll vouch for is Canada at roughly -140 to advance.)
Singer Justin Bieber watches the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays during the seventh inning in Game 3 of baseball’s World Series, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Gavin McKenna, center, stands with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, left, and singer Justin Bieber, right, after being drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs during the NHL hockey draft Friday, June 26, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
South Africa — The Homegrown Eleven
Bafana Bafana is the opposite blueprint, and proud of it. Built overwhelmingly from Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, Hugo Broos’ side leans on captain and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, midfield engine Teboho Mokoena, Burnley striker Lyle Foster, and the pace of Oswin Appollis and Maseko. They’ll be without the suspended Themba Zwane, but their identity has never hinged on any one man — it’s the compact, clean-sheet defense that carried them past Mexico’s group. Defender Aubrey Modiba spoke for the camp this week, insisting Bafana can cause another upset. No passport drawer. Just a country sending its own.
South Africa fans make a selfie ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between South Africa and Cameroon in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
South Africa fans cheer on their team during the World Cup Group A soccer match between Czechia and South Africa in Atlanta, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)
A South Africa fan gets ready for the World Cup Group A soccer match between South Africa and South Korea in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Sofia Yaker)
South Africa fans react the World Cup Group A soccer match between South Africa and South Korea in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Canada’s Ali Ahmed, left and teammate Canada’s Promise David speak to referee Facundo Tello during the World Cup Group B soccer match between Canada and Bosnia in Toronto, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
South Africa’s Thalente Mbatha during the World Cup Group A soccer match between Czechia and South Africa in Atlanta, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)
South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams (1) in action during the World Cup Group A soccer match between Czechia and South Africa in Atlanta, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
South Africa’s baseball story is cut from precisely that cloth — no crossroads, no pipeline, just one impossible climb. Gift Ngoepe grew up living in a room inside the clubhouse of the Randburg Mets, where his mother worked; discovered at an MLB academy in Italy (learning from Hall of Famer Barry Larkin), he became, on April 26, 2017, the first African-born player in Major League history, singling off Jon Lester in his first at-bat for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His teammates screamed “For the motherland.” And in a twist this matchup could only dream up, Ngoepe would later spend a season with — of all clubs — the Toronto Blue Jays.
Canada fans celebrate after their team beat Qatar in the World Cup Group B soccer match in Vancouver, British Columbia, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Kaleb Tatum)
Canada fans react while watching a World Cup soccer game against Switzerland on a giant display at the FIFA Fan Festival, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Canada fans celebrate after their team defeated Qatar in a World Cup Group B soccer match in Vancouver, British Columbia, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Kaleb Tatum)
And he isn’t a one-off. South Africa fielded a national team at the 2025 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, its youth sides keep punching tickets to WBSC World Cups, and its women’s program just swept the Women’s Baseball African Championship. It’s a small pipeline — but it’s real, and it’s growing. Read Ngoepe’s full story on Classic Baseball.
South Africa’s famous expats double as a baseball bridge of their own. Comedian Adam Friedland — son of South African Jewish immigrants and a devoted Arsenal man — is breaking down the World Cup with The Ringer’s Chris Ryan on the new Beautiful Pod, where the two range all the way back to the chaos of the first World Cup in 1930 — a reminder that this tournament’s border-crossing romance is nearly a century old. And the most baseball-relevant South African of all might be Pretoria-born Elon Musk, who has named the New York Yankees his favorite team — a South African, in other words, who roots for the Bronx Bombers. Which is exactly the kind of border-crossing that makes this whole thing fun.
The Pick
Canada’s individual quality up top — David, Davies if fit, Buchanan’s running — should be the difference against a side whose whole game is keeping the door shut. But South Africa has spent this tournament being underestimated, and a one-goal game that turns on a set piece is exactly the script they want. Whoever wins draws the Netherlands or Morocco next — and the Netherlands, of course, is where we’re headed tomorrow, because the Dutch don’t just play soccer. They play honkbal, and right now they’re playing it in Haarlem, where the Curaçao and Aruba bloodlines that fill the Oranje fill the dugout too. Here’s where to find real international baseball this week.
So pick your guy by the city he was born in, settle in for a 3 o’clock kickoff — and then, as always, we’ll get right back to baseball.
