We finally enter the knock-out stage of the 2026 World Cup on Sunday night. Read on for our 22/1 South Africa vs Canada Bet-Builder tip here.
We have been digging through the data and analysing the markets. We’ve got a 22/1 shot as a result.
A match result, a card selection and an assist selection combine below.
Canada to win
South Africa did incredibly well to recover from their opening match defeat to Mexico. Bafana Bafana lost two players to red cards and slipped to an uninspiring 2-0 loss at Estadio Azteca in the very first game of the tournament. Since then, a hard-earned 1-1 draw with Czech Republic and a surprise victory over South Korea has seen Hugo Broos and his side earn second in Group A against the odds.
Although they were arguably the better side against Czech Republic, they did need a relatively late penalty to secure a point in that game. They created more than South Korea in their final group game but had barely any of the ball with just 31% possession. We’re not sure if they can pull off a similar performance against another of the co-hosts here.
This will be Canada’s first game outside of their own nation, but they’ll still be backed by a strong Canadian contingent in Los Angeles. They were poor against Switzerland last time out, but the Canucks were mightily impressive in thumping Qatar 6-0 and were a tad unlucky to only draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina in their opening game. The results say one win, one draw and one loss each but the performances tell a slightly different story.
Khuliso Mudau to be carded
South Africa right-back Khuliso Mudau was excellent in the 1-0 win over South Korea last time out. However, he could be set to face a completely different type of challenge on Sunday night.
Not only will the 31 year old likely have to face the tricky Ali Ahmed of Norwich City but Canada may also be set to welcome back their star man Alphonso Davies at left-back, who didn’t feature a single minute in the group stages. If so, it could be a long night of overloads and combination play for Mudau to deal with on his right flank.
And Mudau is no stranger to a card. In his 21 South African Premiership matches this season, the Mamelodi Sundowns defender has been booked on eight occasions and he was also shown a card at the Afcon earlier this year. He’s yet to be booked for any of his four fouls at this tournament, but Canada will provide a different kind of threat.
Alistair Johnston anytime assist
Alistair Johnston has been one of several stand-out performers for Canada at this tournament so far. The right full-back’s energy and ability at both ends of the pitch has been key to the Canucks’ relative success in their first three games.
In linking with Tajon Buchanan he’s been able to deliver plenty of crosses in the box and indeed he’s created a total of nine chances so far. That’s the most of any Canada player — but he’s yet to get his first assist.
We’ve backing the Celtic man to finally get that assist in this game. With the in-form Jonathan David and Cyle Larin to aim at in the centre as well as Promise David who came off the bench and scored versus Switzerland, the Canucks have the firepower and Johnston has the creativity to provide for them in this game. Surely if he continues at a rate of three chances created per game, that assist is going to come sooner rather than later.
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