The first Round of 32 match of the pits two teams against each other who have never before reached the knockout stages of the global showpiece.
In , South Africa will face tournament co-hosts for the second time after losing the opening game to Mexico – and do so in the third host country, at Los Angeles Stadium. "It's a historic moment for us as a country," defender Ime Okon said. "We're really happy and excited for it."
For South Africa, this moment comes off the back of years of hard work under Belgian coach Hugo Broos, who transformed the team since taking charge in 2021 and has already led them to third-place finish at the African Cup of Nations 2023. Reaching the Round of 32 here is the next step.
"I can't deny that in these five years, the team didn't progress and that I didn't change something in South Africa," Broos said. "In the beginning it was very difficult. Everyone said, Bafana Bafana is a joke. People didn't really understand what I was doing.
"I called up players of smaller teams, I was just building a team and it took a little bit of time before they understood what happened. With our bronze medal two years ago in Côte d’Ivoire at AFCON, suddenly the eyes opened."
At this World Cup, things didn’t start according to plan either. After a , a game in which there were also two red cards against South Africa, not much indicated the turnaround that was set to come. But Bafana Bafana regrouped, picked up a point against with a late goal, and won the decisive game against for second place in Group A.
"We can already say now that the World Cup is a success for us," Broos said. "Everybody expected and hoped that we'd reach the second round – and we did. This is important. But that doesn't mean that we are happy now and that we just play the game tomorrow and go home. Once you are there, you want more.
"We want to win the game tomorrow. If we can show the same mentality and the same level as against Korea Republic, then I think we have a chance to win, even though Canada is a very good team. But if we should reach the next round, then I'd say that's really a miracle for Bafana Bafana."
"It's very exciting, knowing that everybody's behind us," Okon said about the enthusiasm of their fans. "The support we've been getting from everybody back home has really motivated us and helps us when we get onto the pitch. We're not only working for ourselves and our families, but we're working for our whole country back at home. That's just one extra motivation for us to [leave it all] on the pitch."
South Africa have already taken big steps and achieved much at this World Cup, but they are eager for their journey to continue as far as it can.
Sources: FIFA Official
