World Cup live updates today: Canada vs South Africa kicks off round of 32 – USA Today

We are officially into the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup, with 32 teams moving beyond their groups and into the business end of this tournament.
The round of 32 begins Sunday in Southern California with Canada and South Africa facing off, a disappointing matchup for one of the North American co-hosts who got stuck playing a knockout game on foreign soil.
Meanwhile, the rest of the field prepares or its win-or-go-home matchups, with three games set for each day from June 29 to July 3. The round of 16 begins a day later with the final set for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
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Watch all 2026 World Cup games on Fox and FS1. Spanish language broadcasts are available on Telemundo and Peacock.
MEXICO CITY — Nine points. No goals conceded. A dominating 3-0 win in their last match that turned into a celebration of their biggest icon. Mexico couldn’t have asked for a better group stage performance.
But the path from here on out gets a lot muddier, starting with their round of 32 opponent.
Ecuador, once considered a dark horse in the 2026 World Cup, came all the way back from the brink of elimination to stun Germany in a 2-1 win Thursday and secure their place in the knockouts. It’s a tough break for El Tri, who had been projected to face Scotland for much of the past week. — Andrés Soto
Hours after South Korea president Lee Jae Myung expressed frustration with the men’s national team failing to qualify for the 2026 World Cup round of 32, coach Hong Myung-bo resigned from his position.
Lee posted on social media on Sunday, June 28, that he was “utterly baffled” by South Korea’s result, blaming it on “organizational and personnel failures” and criticizing its “incompetent” leader.
“I ‌am not just taken aback by this unexpected outcome, I am utterly baffled,” Lee wrote, “Once again, it has ​been proven that personnel decisions are everything. When ‘us versus them’ ⁠is prioritized over competence, and an incompetent person is selected as a ​leader, the outcome is as clear as day.” — Jordan Mendoza
ARLINGTON, TX — In the Argentina national team, everything can revolve around Lionel Messi. It’s true on the field, where Argentina players often look to their 39-year-old ‘astro’ to make something happen. It’s true off the field, where it seems every shirt in the stadium has his No. 10 on the back – except for the throwbacks that have his No. 19.
So, some of the luster was taken off Argentina’s matchup with Jordan when Albiceleste manager Lionel Scaloni announced Friday that Messi would come off the bench. And, of course, fans chanted for Messi from the 46th minute onward, hoping to see the star come in.
He did, eventually, putting the icing on a 3-1 victory over the World Cup debutants in a half-hour of action – perhaps more than fans were expecting when they heard he’d come off the bench.
– Jon Arnold
Each group played a round-robin style where teams are awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw. The top two teams in each group advanced to the round of 32 along with the eight best third-place squads. Tiebreakers in the group standings were resolved using the following criteria:
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