by Team Del Genio
Tuesday, Jun 30, 2026Of the three host countries for the 2026 World Cup, it is the United States and Mexico that have gotten the most attention. The daily Fox coverage of World Cup matches is pulling double duty to promote the United States Men’s National Team’s chances and make noise in this tournament. Advertising the next match for the Stars and Stripes seems to have been mandated as part of the broadcasting responsibilities during every other match. The USA began the World Cup ranked 17th in the world by FIFA. Mexico has also received plenty of attention, with a Fox broadcasting team stationed in the country to provide on-site coverage and updates. El Tri ranks 14th in the world by FIFA.
Then there is Canada. No dedicated Fox coverage in Toronto or Vancouver. No former national players given camera time to extol the virtues of the Reds and the importance of this event for its country. Yet Canada became the first team in the World Cup to advance to the final 16 in the knockout stage.
FIFA only ranked the Canucks 30th in their rankings coming into this tournament. In their final group stage match, Canada had the opportunity to win Group B and get to play more of their games in front of their home fans, yet they had to settle for second place after a 2-1 loss against Switzerland in their final group stage match on Wednesday. Manager Jesse Marsch has a good case to make that his squad outplayed a Swiss team that ranked 16th in the world by FIFA and that had reached the knockout stage in four of the previous five World Cups. After the game was scoreless at halftime, Switzerland scored two goals in the first twelve minutes of the second half. Canada cut the deficit in half twenty minutes later when Promise David scored, yet they could not draw even and earn the point. The Canucks had more than twice as many shots as Switzerland, 13-6. Seven of their shots were on target, as opposed to four shots on target by the Swiss.
Canada earned their first World Cup victory ever in their 6-0 victory against Qatar in their second group stage game. They reached the knockout stage for the first time in the history of the national program. Taking first place and playing in Vancouver would have been ideal, yet the first knockout game in its history, taking place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, was a decent consolation. The crowd would be rooting for the Canadians.
Marsch has this team trending in a great direction. The American has plenty of experience coaching in top-flight European professional leagues. He served as the manager for both Leeds United in the English Premier League and RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga. The Reds were one of the biggest surprises of the 2024 Copa America by reaching the semifinals. Thirteen of the players on the 2022 World Cup roster are back now. They had only lost once in their previous eleven games. They hoped to get their best player back for this game as well. Alphonso Davies missed the second half of the season for Bayern Munich due to a hamstring injury. He did not play in the group stage, yet the speculation was that he would be available to play this afternoon. At his best, Davies is one of the fastest players in the world with a versatile skill set that makes him valuable either as a fullback on the back line or a midfielder.
Their opponent was South Africa, who rebounded from their 2-0 loss against Mexico in their opening game by earning a draw with Bosnia. Bafana Bafana then pulled off an upset against perhaps an overconfident South Korea team that looked to be playing for a draw, which is all that they needed to reach the knockout stage. Instead, South Africa scored in the 63rd minute and held on for the 1-0 victory to take second place in Group A. It’s the first knockout stage appearance for this national program as well, and manager Hugo Broos group was playing with house money now. Yet this team struggled coming into this tournament, going winless in their previous four matches, including a draw and a loss against Panama and a scoreless draw with Nicaragua in their three friendlies this year.
African nations have had great success so far in this World Cup, with only Tunisia not reaching the knockout stage. Yet in the African Cup of Nations six months ago, South Africa only reached the round of 16 before losing to a Cameroon team that did not qualify for the World Cup. They also lost to Egypt in the group stage, and their two victories were against Angola and Zimbabwe, who did not qualify for the World Cup either. The challenge was even more difficult for them since they will continue to be without midfielder Teboho Mokoena, who remains suspended after receiving a red card in the Mexico game. He is considered the lynchpin of that unit. South Africa has youthful energy, yet they lacked the big game experience of Canada, both internationally and professionally for their club teams.
We backed Canada minus the -0.5 goal line in this game. The game was scoreless for most of the way before LAFC midfielder Stephen Eustaquio scored in the second minute of stoppage time to give the Canadians the 1-0 victory. It was the just result, as Marsch was able to coax Bafana Bafana into being the aggressors, which allowed his team to take advantage on counterattacks. Canada outshot South Africa, 12-6, and while seven of their shots were on target, they only conceded one shot on their keeper.
The Reds also got good news with Davies playing the final fifteen minutes in that game, and he had 27 touches during that time. As a comparison, Canada’s second-best player is Jonathan David, who plays professionally as a forward for Juventus. Despite playing all 90 minutes, David only had 37 touches. While the United States and Mexico continue to receive most of the attention of the host countries, the Reds have the opportunity to reach the quarterfinals if they can upset Morocco on Saturday. If Davies is healthy enough to start, he has the potential to dominate the action, even if he is not featured on an endless string of commercials on the Fox broadcast.
Good luck - Team Del Genio.
Then there is Canada. No dedicated Fox coverage in Toronto or Vancouver. No former national players given camera time to extol the virtues of the Reds and the importance of this event for its country. Yet Canada became the first team in the World Cup to advance to the final 16 in the knockout stage.
FIFA only ranked the Canucks 30th in their rankings coming into this tournament. In their final group stage match, Canada had the opportunity to win Group B and get to play more of their games in front of their home fans, yet they had to settle for second place after a 2-1 loss against Switzerland in their final group stage match on Wednesday. Manager Jesse Marsch has a good case to make that his squad outplayed a Swiss team that ranked 16th in the world by FIFA and that had reached the knockout stage in four of the previous five World Cups. After the game was scoreless at halftime, Switzerland scored two goals in the first twelve minutes of the second half. Canada cut the deficit in half twenty minutes later when Promise David scored, yet they could not draw even and earn the point. The Canucks had more than twice as many shots as Switzerland, 13-6. Seven of their shots were on target, as opposed to four shots on target by the Swiss.
Canada earned their first World Cup victory ever in their 6-0 victory against Qatar in their second group stage game. They reached the knockout stage for the first time in the history of the national program. Taking first place and playing in Vancouver would have been ideal, yet the first knockout game in its history, taking place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, was a decent consolation. The crowd would be rooting for the Canadians.
Marsch has this team trending in a great direction. The American has plenty of experience coaching in top-flight European professional leagues. He served as the manager for both Leeds United in the English Premier League and RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga. The Reds were one of the biggest surprises of the 2024 Copa America by reaching the semifinals. Thirteen of the players on the 2022 World Cup roster are back now. They had only lost once in their previous eleven games. They hoped to get their best player back for this game as well. Alphonso Davies missed the second half of the season for Bayern Munich due to a hamstring injury. He did not play in the group stage, yet the speculation was that he would be available to play this afternoon. At his best, Davies is one of the fastest players in the world with a versatile skill set that makes him valuable either as a fullback on the back line or a midfielder.
Their opponent was South Africa, who rebounded from their 2-0 loss against Mexico in their opening game by earning a draw with Bosnia. Bafana Bafana then pulled off an upset against perhaps an overconfident South Korea team that looked to be playing for a draw, which is all that they needed to reach the knockout stage. Instead, South Africa scored in the 63rd minute and held on for the 1-0 victory to take second place in Group A. It’s the first knockout stage appearance for this national program as well, and manager Hugo Broos group was playing with house money now. Yet this team struggled coming into this tournament, going winless in their previous four matches, including a draw and a loss against Panama and a scoreless draw with Nicaragua in their three friendlies this year.
African nations have had great success so far in this World Cup, with only Tunisia not reaching the knockout stage. Yet in the African Cup of Nations six months ago, South Africa only reached the round of 16 before losing to a Cameroon team that did not qualify for the World Cup. They also lost to Egypt in the group stage, and their two victories were against Angola and Zimbabwe, who did not qualify for the World Cup either. The challenge was even more difficult for them since they will continue to be without midfielder Teboho Mokoena, who remains suspended after receiving a red card in the Mexico game. He is considered the lynchpin of that unit. South Africa has youthful energy, yet they lacked the big game experience of Canada, both internationally and professionally for their club teams.
We backed Canada minus the -0.5 goal line in this game. The game was scoreless for most of the way before LAFC midfielder Stephen Eustaquio scored in the second minute of stoppage time to give the Canadians the 1-0 victory. It was the just result, as Marsch was able to coax Bafana Bafana into being the aggressors, which allowed his team to take advantage on counterattacks. Canada outshot South Africa, 12-6, and while seven of their shots were on target, they only conceded one shot on their keeper.
The Reds also got good news with Davies playing the final fifteen minutes in that game, and he had 27 touches during that time. As a comparison, Canada’s second-best player is Jonathan David, who plays professionally as a forward for Juventus. Despite playing all 90 minutes, David only had 37 touches. While the United States and Mexico continue to receive most of the attention of the host countries, the Reds have the opportunity to reach the quarterfinals if they can upset Morocco on Saturday. If Davies is healthy enough to start, he has the potential to dominate the action, even if he is not featured on an endless string of commercials on the Fox broadcast.
Good luck - Team Del Genio.
