Canada is the heavy favourite to beat their surprise FIFA World Cup opponent
Canada didn’t win its group like it hoped, after losing to Switzerland on Wednesday.
So rather than continue playing in Vancouver, the team will travel to Los Angeles for a Round of 32 match. Until a shocking result on Wednesday evening, everyone assumed that it would be against South Korea. South Africa’s 1-0 upset win over the Koreans changed all that, making them Canada’s next opponent.
Instead of heading to L.A. as underdogs, Canada is now the favourite.
Canada was ranked 30th coming into the World Cup, while South Korea entered the tournament 25th. And given the large Korean population in Southern California, the match would have been like a home game for South Korea.
Instead, it’s Canada that will enter the match as heavy favourites against South Africa, who were the 60th-ranked team by FIFA before the tournament began. By contrast, Canada earned a draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina (64th-ranked), a win against Qatar (56th), and lost to Switzerland (19th).
Oddsmakers are listing Canada as the favourite to win by a fairly wide margin, with one sports book listing Canada at -360 and South Africa at +270. Those numbers imply that the probability of Canada advancing is 78 per cent.
Anything can happen in a single-game elimination, so Canada can’t afford to take anyone lightly. That’s especially true given how banged up Canada is at the moment, starting Wednesday’s match without four of their five best players.
Alphonso Davies hasn’t appeared in any games for Canada yet. (Kevin Sousa/Imagn Images)
Canada head coach Jesse Marsch was talking up the South Africans following training on Thursday.
“What I saw in the match was a South African team that was much more dominant and imposed themselves in the way they wanted the game to be. Certainly, in a lot of the individual moments or the transition moments, you could see the athleticism and quality of the team,” he said.
“A big thing for us will be to make sure we’re limiting their ability to get out into open space and that we can be very disciplined in our tactics and brave to go after the game in our ways.”
Should Canada advance past South Africa, the Round of 16 will get even tougher. The winner of Canada-South Africa plays the winner of Morocco and the first-place team from Group F (likely the Netherlands) in Houston.
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