Praise Pours in For ‘True Canadian Heroes’ After Last-Minute World Cup Win

Canada have enjoyed a historic run at the FIFA World Cup 2026, and it will continue thanks to Stephen Eustaquio’s 92nd-minute goal against South Africa, which sent the cohosts into the global tournament’s round of 16 for the first time.

The 29-year-old midfielder’s strike on Sunday rewrote Canadian football history, capping off a narrative that Jesse Marsch has been scripting since taking the reins two years ago.

“Think about how we talked about sticking to the plan, sticking to who we want to be, playing aggressive, accessing the quality, you guys showing your character,” an impassioned Marsch told his team as they circled around him on the pitch following their victory.

“You guys are Canadian heroes! Canadian heroes for the future children of this country, who play this sport. This sport has a big future because of you guys.

“You should be so proud of who you are. You should be so proud of this game. You went after it, moment after moment.”

The same words were echoed by Prime Minister Mark Carney, who had barely exited his flight and watched the final minutes of the game on his phone.

“What a game. What a team. What a country,” Carney wrote on social media.

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, where Eustaquio was born and raised before his family moved to Portugal, congratulated the team for advancing to the next round, as did Leader of the Opposition, Pierre Poilievre.

Mayor of Vancouver, Ken Sim, wrote to the team, saying: “You wore your hearts on your sleeves, gave everything on the field, and gave all of us a memory we’ll never forget.”

- Author: Anushe Engineer, Al Jazeera