The first Round of 32 match of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ wrote many stories – knockout debuts, a historic victory for Canada, at the site of his injury 15 months ago – and , sending their supporters at Los Angeles Stadium into a frenzy.
"It's a tough stadium, I don't think we can see the [time] of the game," Eustaquio revealed after the game. "I never saw it. I was looking during the hydration breaks to figure out how much time was left, but when I scored, I knew it was close to the end."
South Africa were largely staying back with Canada were struggling to get through and it felt like the game was headed for extra time, when Eustaquio broke the deadlock, and was crowed for deciding the fixture.
"We worked a lot to get this victory. We really wanted to give this win to all the Canadians," he said. "We just kept believing, we kept pushing, and I [don't] think we could've imagined it any other way. When I shot, I felt that everybody shot with me. Everybody put a little bit of power on it and it went into the back of the net."
It was Eustaquio's first goal for Canada since late 2023, and fourth on American soil after three goals at the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, and probably the most important goal of his career. But even in this historic moment of securing Canada a first-ever knockout victory, Eustaquio's already looking forward.
"It started when we came out of the group stage," he said about the belief the team had that they would be able to pull of the victory. "I think when it comes to a knockout of the World Cup, the belief brings a big part to it. And now we're going to get Morocco or the Netherlands, and who knows, on a good day that we can make things happen.
"We have a special group, we feel like we are brothers. When we fight for each other, special things can happen. I'm over the moon – but the job's not finished."
Sources: FIFA Official
