Eustaquio's stoppage-time winner sends Canada into last 16 through tears for lost parents

Stephen Eustaquio delivered one of the most emotionally charged moments of the 2026 World Cup, scoring a stoppage-time winner to send Canada into the last 16 before breaking down in tears as he paid tribute to his late parents.

The 29-year-old midfielder lashed home from the edge of the box in the second minute of added time at Los Angeles Stadium on Sunday, sealing a 1-0 victory over South Africa in the round of 32. Canada will now face either Morocco or the Netherlands in Houston on 4 July.

After a game that had struggled to find real quality, Eustaquio’s strike proved the decisive moment — and the emotion that followed was immediate. Speaking pitchside, he was visibly in tears as he spoke about his mother, who died in 2023 following a battle with brain cancer, and his father, who passed away a year later from a heart attack.

“Everything I do is for my family, for my parents, for my girlfriend, for my daughter,” Eustaquio said. “For my friends back home. For everyone.”

On the goal itself, the Porto midfielder described a collective feeling in the moment of contact: “I think it was an amazing goal but when I shot, I felt everyone shot with me. They put a little bit of power on it and it went into the back of the net. So I am very happy.”

Reflecting on Canada’s progression, Eustaquio pointed to the belief that has grown since the group stage: “When it comes to the knockouts of the World Cup, the belief brings a big part to it. Now, we’re going to get Morocco or the Netherlands and who knows, on a good day we can make things happen. Probably the quality is not going to be there, but if we keep believing and keep working, things might go our way.”

Canada head coach Jesse Marsch was equally emotional in his assessment of the squad’s achievement. “He buries it. I can’t help but think of all the hard work from these guys,” Marsch said of Eustaquio’s winner. “The character. They are Canadian heroes — that’s what I told them at the end. They are now Canadian heroes. I am so happy for them.”

Marsch had set his side up to absorb South Africa’s pace in transition before finding a way to punish them, and while he acknowledged his team were not clinical enough across the full 90 minutes, the late breakthrough vindicated the approach. Canada, as co-hosts, now carry an entire nation’s hopes into the last 16.