Canada’s historic run at the FIFA World Cup will continue following a nail-biting victory over South Africa.

In a game that looked destined for extra time, Stephen Eustáquio became an instant Canadian hero with the game-winning goal in second-half stoppage time.

The Canadians’ 1-0 win at Los Angeles Stadium in the Round of 32 match moves them onto a Round of 16 clash with either Morocco or the Netherlands in Houston on Saturday.

This was Canada’s first-ever match in the knockout stage of a senior men’s FIFA World Cup. It came after they finished second in Group B with a 1-1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina, a 6-0 win over Qatar and a 2-1 loss to Switzerland.

While Canada lost out on the home-field advantage it had enjoyed through its first three games, thousands of Canadian supporters made the journey down to California for the big occasion.

Head coach Jesse Marsch made four changes to the Canada starting line-up from that final group-stage match against the Swiss. Most notably, central defender Moïse Bombito made his first start of the tournament.

Eustáquio, Tani Oluwaseyi and Liam Millar, all of whom came on as second-half substitutes against Switzerland, returned to Canada’s starting lineup.

It was a predictably cagey start, with the first clear-cut chance coming to Jonathan David in the 17th minute. His shot, coming off a Eustáquio corner kick, went wide of the South African goal.

Five minutes later, Derek Cornelius got his head to the end of a Eustáquio free kick, but it was right at South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. Oluwaseyi had Canada’s next attempt at goal in the 34th minute, a tough-angle shot that Williams caught.

Canada nearly got the breakthrough in the waning minutes of the first half as a Bombito header was scrambled off the goal line by the South African defenders.

There were loud shouts for a penalty kick in first half stoppage time as Richie Laryea went down while streaking into the penalty area. But the referee waved away the appeals, and was not advised by the video assistant referee to give it another look.

Despite Canada loading on the pressure, the game went into halftime at 0-0.

Not much separated the sides out of the halftime break. Second-half substitute Niko Sigur sent Oluwaseyi through on goal in the 65th minute, but Williams made a good save, and the rebound was cleared before David could pounce.

South Africa was clearly content to sit back and soak up the pressure, to the chagrin of the nearly 70,000 fans in attendance.

With the game at a stalemate, captain Alphonso Davies finally entered the action for the first time in this World Cup. He entered as a sub in the 75th minute and brought immediate energy, helping set up Promise David for a long-distance shot that went just centimetres wide.

As the minutes ticked down and everyone prepared for the possibility of extra time or even a penalty shootout, the magic happened.